


Raison D'être

by nackledamia



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Blood and Violence, M/M, Minor Character Death, Sensual scenes but no nsfw, Suicide suggestion, Vampire Hunters, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 21:47:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 38,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14941958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nackledamia/pseuds/nackledamia
Summary: “An unwilling subject,” James breathed, turning towards Aaron. “Why would they pick someone who didn’t want to be a vampire to be their Prince?”Aaron shrugged.“Laser down the door,” James stepped back, “let’s see if we can still save him.”





	Raison D'être

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for the blatant hunger games reference in a scene
> 
> I am so sorry for the inconsistencies that may appear here and there
> 
> I really, really hope this story is decently good
> 
> Please let me know what you thought
> 
> [Art by Soladox!](http://soladox.tumblr.com)

_Never look directly into a Vampire’s eyes._

_It was the first thing every parent taught their children the moment a child could comprehend what a predator was; what a vampire was._

_A vampire could enthrall you, erase your defenses, make you more susceptive to their suggestions. It could drain your blood and leave you to die. No one would find your body until all that was left of you were unidentifiable bones._

_“Good boy, James. Keep your eyes close. Whatever you hear, don’t come out. Daddy will come back and find you when it’s safe.”_

_“Okay,” James whispered back, huddled up in the corner of the closet. His father shoved an umbrella into his hands and pointed at the wooden tip. James nodded and hugged his only defense to his chest as his father slid the closet door close and shut the room’s door behind him._

_8-year-old James and his father were playing upstairs when the vampire broke in and caught his mother by surprise. She had screamed bloody murder before falling silent. James’ father had shoved him into the closet and hurried downstairs to save his wife._

_James flinched as his father’s shouts echoed down the hallway. Round after round of gunshots rang through the house. A thump of a body slamming against the wall and all was silent._

_James kept his eyes firmly shut, knees drawn to his chest, making himself as small as he could._

_James imagined his mother had found a safe spot to hide. He imagined his father surprising the vampire and shooting it from behind. He imagined the silence in the house to be the calm aftermath of his father winning the battle, seeking out his mother before coming upstairs to tell him the house was safe now._

_But there was something wrong with the silence around him. The air didn’t feel light, like a triumphant battle won. It weighed down on him, the silence suffocating, consuming. The heaviness of death hung in the air._

_James peeked an eye open. The darkness surrounding him was no different from the abyss he saw with his eyes squeezed shut. It was no more comforting; deafening silence drowning everything out as though he too, was awaiting his death._

_James’ breathing came in small, nervous gasps as he heard footsteps thumping up the stairs. He bit his lip as the door of the room creaked open. He shut his eyes again as the closet door slid open._

_The silence dragged on._

_“Daddy?” James finally whispered, shivering with the strange chill in the air. “Mommy?”_

_Without warning, an index finger and a thumb pinched James’ chin and jerked his head upwards. James gasped at the icy-cold touch against his skin, his eyes involuntarily flying open._

_Never look directly into a Vampire’s eyes._

_James couldn’t help the way he was drawn to its glowing red eyes, lighting up the darkness of the closet. There was something animalistic in its gaze; the same look a wolf gave a rabbit before pouncing. Its eyes spoke of hunger, of instinctive behaviour, of survival._

_He tightened his grip around his umbrella._

_“Oh, shit,” the vampire laughed, “you’re another immune human. I hate that all you humans are developing resistances against our advances. Like, can a predator please have something to eat? Or drink, in my case.”_

_“What?” James managed to whimper out a response after the vampire’s grumble._

_“You’re immune to my enchantment.” The vampire explained. “You see, if you were enthralled, you would have dropped your weapon. You would be offering me your neck, though we no longer drink directly from necks. No, we are more civilised than that. I personally enjoy fruit-flavoured blood in a champagne glass.”_

_“Are you going to kill me?” James trembled._

_“No, that would be too easy,” The vampire grinned, revealing its fangs. There was a dangerous glint in its eyes. Human intelligence and animalistic instincts weren’t the best evolutionary combination._

_Vampires evolved to be emotionless. They were motivated by primal instincts but believed themselves to be superior to humans. Without emotions, without a sense of guilt or conscience, without humanity, vampires were willing to do anything to get everything they wanted._

_“You killed my parents,” James whispered, hands shaking as reality slammed him back against the back of the closet. “Why?”_

_“I was sent out on an errand to fill up some blood bags because we were running out of food.” It shrugged and grinned. “Your parents were just… unlucky. Nothing personal.”_

_“You’re a monster,” James whispered again._

_“I prefer to call myself awakened and unburdened by humanity’s emotional restraints.” the vampire leaned forward with an arrogant sneer._

_The vampire inhaled and exhaled through his mouth, into James’ face. James wrinkled his nose at the stench of rust in its breath. It gave an open-mouthed smile at James’ discomfort, fangs dangerously close._

_“What are you going to do about it, little boy?”_

_With a burst of despair, James wailed and lashed out. He jabbed the umbrella’s pointed end at the vampire. His eyes welled up in tears, vision blurring. When his weak jab missed the vampire, he threw the umbrella at the vampire then hugged his knees to his chest and let the tears flow._

_The vampire dodged the umbrella and barked out a sharp, evil laugh. It reached out and scooped James into its arms, standing up. Coldness seeped through James’ clothes and numbed his heart._

_“Maybe I won’t kill you,” the vampire purred, drawing a long fingernail across James’ neck. “maybe I’ll turn you into one of us, little immune child. I have your first vampire meal ready, too. You will drink the blood of your own human parents as you are reborn as one of us.”_

_James whimpered, shaking his head. He would rather die than become a monster. He would rather die-_

_A bullet. A cry of anguish. The vampire dropping him. Footsteps flooding the room._

_Falling. James was falling._

_He was caught and wrapped in the arms of another. Warm arms. Human._

_James buried his face into the shirt of his saviour and sobbed his eyes out._

_“Shh,” the female hushed him, rocking him in her arms, “Shh. We’re the vampire hunters. You were very brave and now you’re safe. You can trust us. What’s your name?”_

_“J- James.”_

_“James, we’re going to take you with us, okay? You’ll be safe. We’ll be your new family. We’ll show you how to protect yourself from the vampires.”_

\---------

James stood before the decently-maintained brick cottage in the middle of the woods, his rifle with an attached wooden stake slung across his back. Most hunters preferred to use something a little more modern; more updated models. James, however, trusted the weapon that had saved his life as a child.

He was only wearing a bullet-proof vest over his usual tee and cargo pants. Some hunters chose to wear more protection, some chose to wear less. As long as they were confident they wouldn’t die with their amount of armour, they were allowed to wear anything into battle.

James’ second-in-command was one of those who wore no armour into battle. Aaron wore a loose singlet and trousers into battle. The only ‘protection’ he had was his steel belt that held both of his revolvers in their holsters.

James nodded at Aaron as he hoisted his rifle and Aaron nodded back, drawing his revolvers out, a silent signal for the hunters on his side of the house to prepare to charge.

James’ black combat boots crinkled against dead leaves as he let out a battle cry and stormed the house, his team of hunters close behind him.

The hunters had been tipped off by an anonymous source that the Vampire Prince-in-making had been hidden here, with some vampire commoners, while he was being converted from human to monster.

James’ team, the elite hunter squad, was sent to kill the Prince-in-making before he- _it_ \- became the Prince.

James kicked the front door down. The vampires, with their enhanced senses, were prepared for their arrival, but James opened fire before they had a chance to even rush at him.

The process of converting from human to vampire wasn’t as simple as storybooks made it to be.

Typically, a human was hooked up to a bag of vampire blood and they would fall unconscious during the conversion process- a sort of hibernation while the body underwent supernatural changes. Vampires would be around to replace the emptied blood bag regularly. It took an average of a week or so for a human to completely convert into a vampire.

The vampire blood would invade a person’s veins and begin the long process of consuming human blood until it reigned dominant in the bloodstream.

The body would change accordingly to the new cells in its body. They would gain a boost of supernatural beauty. Their muscles would shift to fit the demands of their new lifestyle. They would gain enhanced senses and grow fangs.

The person would wake up, reborn a vampire. Their human memories would be hazy and most vampires didn’t bother recalling them. After all, it had a new life now. A superior life of power and destruction.

Or so they seemed to believe. In reality, they were nothing more than monsters attempting to survive in a world that had outgrown the need for them. This was why the hunters existed.

James pulled his stake out of the vampire’s chest. “Take it personally,” James spat on the corpse, “just like I took it personally when your kind killed my parents.”

He hated these creatures- _monsters_ \- so much.

Revenge was James’ personal agenda, but his motivation to kill vampires stretched beyond simply revenge. He killed vampires so other humans would never have to undergo the same ordeal he had undergone, would never have to feel the same pain he felt.

Essentially, he killed to protect. He killed to prevent. He killed to save.

The vampires weren’t putting up a particularly difficult fight, especially since they were supposed to be guarding their Prince-in-making.

Come to think of it, James wondered why they wouldn’t convert their Prince in the royal vampire castle. The castle was heavily fortified and the hunters hadn’t tried to storm it; just like how the vampires wouldn’t storm the Hunters’ Headquarters. It would have been safer than some random abandoned house in the woods.

James couldn’t help the uneasy suspicion that settled in his chest.

Either the anonymous tip had been wrong, or they had walked into a trap.

“This room’s clear!” James yelled, going through his usual room checks- under the bed, in the closet, behind the door- before exiting the room.

“First floor’s clear!” Aaron shouted as James entered the living room, standing before a semicircle of dead vampires, twirling his revolvers in his hands.

 _“Second floor’s clear!”_ came a holler from upstairs.

James nodded an acknowledgement at the hunters gathering around him. He looked up and nodded again at the hunters on the second floor, leaning over the railing to look at him. “Basement,” he commanded, reloading his rifle with wooden bullets and leading them down the narrow stairs.

Weapon aimed forward, James shot open the door to the basement and was greeted by a long, modern, steel hallway...

...and a flood of armed and armoured vampires.

These were the royal vampire guards: large, trained in combat, armed with ranged weapons and wore a protective chestplate.

James dropped to one knee and stabbed the first vampire in the thigh with his stake.The vampire stumbled backwards into his fellow guard. It was like a domino effect; the vampire guards all crumbled with the sudden weight falling onto them.

For all their intimidation, vampires were pretty stupid. Maybe that was why they chose to convert their Prince here; pure idiocy.

Behind James, Aaron gasped, taken by surprise, fumbling with his revolvers before maneuvering around James and cranking up the fire power before shooting. The other hunters took his lead and fell into practised assistance formation, gunning the vampires down.

The vampires above had been decoys. The Prince-in-making really was here and here were the royal guards stationed to protect their new Prince.

James stood up as his hunters descended into the basement and killed the rest of the vampires that had rushed at them.

“Spread out! Cover the hallway! Make sure they’re all dead! Every room!” James barked out commands, strolling down the hallway as his men cleared the rooms.

James stabbed a dead vampire. Hah. The vampires thought they could surprise them. Not after what happened to his parents. Never again. He was no longer the weak, defenseless boy he once was.

Revenge was the bitter rust that coated his stake.

_”This room’s clear!” “This room’s clear! So is this room!”_

James gave them a nod over his shoulder, slinging his rifle across his back. He stepped up to Aaron before the lone, unopened metal door at the end of the hallway.

“The Prince is inside, alone,” Aaron reported.

“Laser this door down and let’s kill him,” James told him.

Aaron hesitated, “you might not want to do that.”

Aaron stood aside and James tiptoed to look through the glass window of the metal door.

The Prince-in-making sat in the middle of the empty room, his head bowed, slumped in hibernation. Despite the crown on his head, he was still dressed in typical human garments; a simple purple tee and jeans. The bag of vampire blood he was hooked up to was almost empty. James couldn’t tell how many bags of vampire blood the man had taken in, or how far down the transformation the man was.

It was a standard vampire transformation set-up, except for one tiny detail.

The man was cuffed by one wrist to his chair.

“An unwilling subject,” James breathed, landing on his heel and turning towards Aaron. Aaron returned a slow nod. “Why would they pick someone who didn’t want to be a vampire to be their Prince?”

Aaron shrugged.

“Laser down the door,” James stepped back, turning to his men, “let’s see if we can still save him.”

The door was lasered down and James approached the Prince. His men spread out across the room, weapons aimed to kill the Prince with a single shot.

The Prince was still unconscious but if his transformation was near completion, he could awaken and pounce anytime. Newborn vampires were _starving_ when they first awoke.

A safe distance away, James knelt down on one knee before the man. He rested the tip of his stake on the Prince’s chin and tilted his head up. The Prince’s head rolled back in his unconscious state, crown falling to the ground, curls falling away to reveal his face.

James’ breath caught in his throat.

The Prince was absolutely stunning. Beautiful. The pinnacle of perfection. His smooth, flawless skin had to be attributed to the vampire blood in his system; he was now a predator and predators were often attractive to their prey- their prey being humankind.

The rest of his beauty had to be attributed to his own efforts. His lean muscles must have taken hours of consistent exercise. His neatly trimmed beard must have taken forever to master. His perfect brows-

“Psst,” Aaron suddenly hissed across the room, startling James.

James turned away from the Prince to blink at Aaron. His men were all staring at him, bewildered. What were they looking at? James cast a gaze down at himself.

James realised then that he had lowered his rifle and was now standing dangerously close to the vampire. When had he put down his guard and shifted forward?

“Kill him or save him,” Aaron hissed again, direct as always, focused on the mission.

James’ focus, however, had been redirected.

“Wait, I can’t tell how far down the transformation he is,” James responded, looking back down at the unconscious Prince before him.

Technically, that was true. Red eyes were the first change to occur; fangs were the last change. James couldn’t come to a conclusion with the Prince still unconscious, but he had only said that to buy himself more time to admire the Prince up close.

Why was he so infatuated with the vampire _Prince_ , of all people? This wasn’t the first attractive vampire he had seen. He had no trouble gunning down or stabbing other handsome vampires. What was it about the Prince that made his heart race and an unfamiliar smile tug his lips upwards?

The Prince’s finger twitched on the armrest of the chair. He must have heard James’ pounding heartbeat with his new enhanced senses.

“He’s waking up!” Aaron hissed.

“Weapons down!” James commanded, waving a distracted hand at his men, his gaze never leaving the Prince.

The Prince inhaled slowly as he awoke from his hibernation. He then exhaled, taking his time, adjusting to the new sensitivity in his body.

James held his breath.

The Prince opened his eyes and James gasped, startled by the glowing red orbs he was suddenly staring into. James couldn’t look away, caught up by the intensity in those eyes that burned into his soul.

Instinctive hunger. A predator sizing up his prey. Perhaps there was some enchantment going on, but James couldn’t be enthralled by a vampire. It had been proven time and time again since he was a child.

Beyond the surface level beastality, human emotions cluttered his gaze.

Anger. Fear. Confusion.

Vampires didn’t- weren’t- supposed to have emotions.

Yet here this man was, this Vampire Prince, displaying indisputable emotions just in the way his eyes begged for help. Begged to be released from his nightmare.

"We can save him,” James raised his voice and spoke with full conviction. The Prince winced, unused to his enhanced hearing. “I’m sorry,” James automatically said, dropping his voice to a whisper.

The Prince’s red eyes lit up in amusement, an emotion vampires shouldn’t have. James offered him a small smile in response, shoulders relaxing.

The hungry rumble of the Prince’s stomach echoed in the room.

Every human emotion James could see in the Prince’s gaze disappeared immediately. The intelligent light in his eyes dimmed and the Prince’s expression contorted into an animalistic snarl. The last strings of humanity disappeared from his gaze and the hungry beast in the Prince took control.

Smooth fangs extended from his gums and all James could process was _vampire_.

James didn’t have time to react before the Prince lunged at him.

_James was eight. The vampire had its fangs in his face. He was weak. He was defenseless._

_“You will drink the blood of your own human parents as you are reborn as one of us.”_

“James? Can you hear me? It’s 2018. You’re twenty-two years old. You’re a hunter. You’re alive.”

James gasped.

It was just a flashback. It wasn’t real. He wasn't going to die. He was James Madison and he was 22 years old. He was a vampire hunter, the leader of the elite squad of America. These blood-sucking monsters couldn’t hurt him anymore. Never again.

James took his time to ground himself back to reality. He could hear his own heavy breathing. He could see the endless greyness of the walls of the room. He could feel the cold metal floor where he had fallen seep chills into his skin.

Aaron helped him stand, supporting James up as his legs wobbled beneath him. Another hunter came forward and picked up James’ rifle, holding it for him.

James opened his mouth and closed it again wordlessly. He swallowed and tried again, but the tension in his muscles and the heaviness in his heart remained.

_No matter how many vampires you kill, you’ll never make up for being useless all those years ago. Your parents are dead because of you._

James took a deep breath and pushed his emotions away to the deep corner of his heart and his mind where he couldn’t feel them. His emotions were distracting him from his job. James focused on each concerned face in the room before his gaze landed on the Prince, slumped back and unconscious in his chair. His cuffed wrist was red, probably from the friction of the struggle.

“Did you kill him?” James whispered, his voice trembling ever so slightly.

“No,” Aaron assured, gesturing at the small dart tranquilizer in the Prince’s neck. “You said we can save him. I trust you.”

James took another deep breath, this time in relief.

“Okay,” James nodded, his head bouncing a little too quickly. James swallowed and tried again. “Okay. Load him into the van. He’s going back to headquarters with us.”

\---------

James and Aaron stood across the room, armed and ready to shoot if anything went wrong. The tranquiliser had worn off and they watched with matching stone-faces as the Prince struggled against the doctors and nurses back at the hospital at Hunters’ Headquarters.

The Prince bared his new fangs at them, snarling and snapping like an animal. He thrashed wildly as they forced him down on a chair, strapping his limbs in place so he couldn’t move. They hooked the Prince up to a blood bag full of human blood and an empty bag to drain the vampire blood from his circulatory system.

Motivated by hunger, the Prince continued to struggle in his restrains as his eyes glowed bright red, desperately trying to enthrall someone into offering him their neck. Aaron and the medical personnel were wearing special sunglasses to protect themselves from the enchantment. James didn’t need a pair, so he was the only one directly meeting the Prince’s burning gaze.

James sought out the emotions he had previously seen in the Prince’s gaze; the shred of humanity that remained within him. James was positive that he had seen those raw emotions in his eyes when the Prince had first woken up but now, there was nothing beneath the beast.

Were they too late to save him?

“You think he’s handsome, don’t you?” Aaron muttered, startling James out of his thoughts, his voice low enough for only James to hear. He didn’t have to; most of the medical personnel were leaving the room, but it certainly added to the mysterious and knowing tone in his voice.

James looked up at him. Aaron’s expression remained serious, the sparkle in his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. Between the both of them, Aaron fancied himself as a charming wingman. This wasn’t the first time Aaron had tried to play matchmaker for James.

“All vampires are good-looking,” James dismissed Aaron’s hints, though he couldn’t deny the blush that heated his cheeks as he turned back to the Prince. The Prince glared right back at him, heaving heavily, still struggling where he sat.

The lead doctor assigned to the Prince injected something into his neck and the Prince finally slid into unconsciousness, his head rolling back on his neck. The doctor left the room, closing the door behind her.

The moment the door clicked shut, Aaron relaxed and turned to James with a wide grin.

“Oh no,” James groaned, slinging his rifle across his back and cradling Aaron’s revolvers as Aaron placed them in his arms.

Aaron took broad steps towards the Prince. He clutched the Prince’s jaw with a hand and pulled his head upright to face James.

Deep in his unconsciousness, the Prince looked nothing like the beast that had raged before them moments ago. There was a sense of tranquility around him, a certain peacefulness in his expression.

James’ heart fluttered in his chest. This man was perfection. James could almost allow himself to believe that he might have a chance with him. His lips twitched into a small smile at that possibility.

“Look at him,” Aaron spoke up, gazing the Prince as well. “Wow, look at those perfect brows. Look at his muscles. Look at his lips. I bet you want to kis-”

“ _Aaron_!” James hissed, looking away, cheeks flushing red.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed,” Aaron continued. James could hear the teasing in his voice. “I bet he’s gentle. He likes cuddles. He’s the kind that would pamper. He’s going to be the protective one and you will be the cute one.”

“Stop,” James protested weakly, ducking his head to hide his blush.

“Hi, I am the Vampire Prince,” Aaron deepened his voice, mimicking the Prince’s growl, “and I think we should go on a date, James.”

Something about the line struck James and the love-struck tingly feeling in his heart became a sharp stake into his chest.

_He’s the Vampire Prince. Vampires killed your family. He’s going to kill you too. No, he’s going to turn you. You’re going to be a monster. You’re going to be the monster that killed your parents._

“Hey hey hey hey hey!” came Aaron’s yell, and James blinked to see that he had dropped Aaron’s revolvers to the ground, the nozzle of his rifle aimed at the Prince’s heart. Aaron had darted across the room in seconds and was back by his side, pushing his rifle away, shaking him gently. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. He’s not the Prince. Not anymore. You saved him, remember? He’s going to be a human and he’s going to be your dream man.”

“He’s going to be human,” James echoed, eyes brimming with overwhelmed tears.

Not a vampire. Not a monster. Human.

Aaron wrapped James in a hug, supporting him up as he leaned onto Aaron, sniffling into his shoulder.

“He’s not like Theodosia. I couldn’t save Theodosia,” Aaron muttered, rubbing James’ back, “but you saved him. Give him a chance. Give yourself a chance. You need this.”

The door creaked open and the doctor stood at the entrance, a sheepish smile on her face at having interrupted their conversation. James pulled away from Aaron and wiped his tears away with a sleeve, putting on his stoic hunter expression. Aaron took off his protective shades and pushed them over James’ watery eyes, then straightened into his usual quiet seriousness.

As the leaders of the elite hunters, they had reputations to uphold.

“Good news,” the doctor said to them, waving a piece of paper in her hand, “the Prince is expected to make a full recovery.”

“That’s great to hear,” James responded, formal and dismissive.

“The Prince is a fighter.” the doctor continued as she turned and slotted the piece of paper into the glass panel by the door. It was the Prince’s personal particulars; they must have used his fingerprint to identify him when they brought him in. “His body never accepted the vampire blood into its system; it was still reproducing human blood cells to counter the vampire blood. This is the first time we have seen someone at his level of transformation able to fight against the change.”

“That’s good,” James said, “Thank you. We’ll ask him some questions when he is human again.”

The doctor nodded, presenting them with another polite smile before stepping out the room and closing the door.

Aaron picked up his revolvers off the ground and slotted them into their holsters by his belt. James took a deep, calming breath as Aaron took his shades back and wiped James’ tears away with a thumb, offering him a smile. “He’s going to recover. Okay?”

“Okay,” James nodded, returning a small smile.

With that, Aaron’s grin widened and he grabbed James by the arm, pulling him towards the door.

“We’re not supposed to look at a patient’s private information,” James protested.

“Come on. Don’t you want to know his name?” Aaron teased, trailing a finger down the glass panel, in search of the information he was looking for.

James rolled on the balls of his feet in hesitance before casting a quick glance at the paper. The glance turned into a thorough lookover of the Prince’s information.

 **Patient #8442  
** Name: Thomas Jefferson  
Job: Scientist @ Scotts Lab  
Condition: Vampirism  
Treatment: Reverse Vampirism  
Medical Priority: Urgent

“Thomas Jefferson,” Aaron read aloud.

“He’s a scientist,” James breathed.

“Handsome _and_ smart,” Aaron raised a suggestive eyebrow at James. “Are you interested?”

James threw a weak punch at Aaron’s arm, making him laugh in response.

“Get back to work,” James said, avoiding the question, pulling the door open.

Aaron nudged James a last time before clearing his throat and fixing his familiar serious expression back on his face. He rested his hands over his revolvers and brisk-walked out of the room.

James lingered by the entrance of the Prince’s- _Thomas’_ \- room.

Thomas sat hunched and unmoving in his chair, his breathing deep and even.

“Bye, Thomas,” James whispered at the unconscious Prince, then hurried after Aaron.

\---------

It was a week later when a nurse approached James and Aaron about Thomas.

The reverse transformation was complete and Thomas was waking up from his induced coma. They only wanted one hunter in the room; they needed someone to shoot Thomas down if he was still a vampire but they also didn’t want to overwhelm Thomas if he had been successfully converted back into a human.

If the reverse transformation had failed and Thomas was still a vampire, it meant that they had brought Thomas in too late and he was a lost cause. He would be shooting to kill, not tranquilise.

Aaron had immediately winked at James and told the nurse that James should go; he was the leader of the elite hunters and the one who had saved the Thomas’ life.

“What if he’s still a vampire? I don’t want to-” James began to argue, but the nurse had stalked off and Aaron winked again as he pushed James out of their training room and closed the door on him. James sighed and hurried after the nurse.

James roughed his fingers against his rifle sling all the way to Thomas’ hospital room. He kept his expression stern; he was the leader of the elite hunters. He wasn’t afraid to shoot a vampire. If Thomas was a vampire, then there was no question what his response should be.

Still, James’ heart twinged at the possibility that he might have to _shoot_ Thomas when he had just found him.

James stepped into Thomas’ room apprehensively and heaved a loud sigh of relief at the sight of him unrestrained in the chair, cooperative as a nurse took his vital signs. The reverse transformation had worked. Thomas Jefferson was a human again.

Something was still wrong. Thomas had his head bowed, hunched over in his chair. The doctor had her hands on her knees as she bent down and talked to Thomas in a low voice. James couldn’t make out what she was telling Thomas, but he seemed… _afraid_ , flinching at every touch.

Everyone in the room, including Thomas, looked up at James when his loud sigh disrupted the careful silence of the room. James gestured as his rifle in a wordless explanation and lowered it again as he turned his focus to Thomas.

Thomas’ black eyes were shadowed by a layer of darkness; memories of his experiences haunting him. James couldn’t even begin to imagine the internal turmoil Thomas must feel: relieved, yet terrified at what could have been, knowing that he had been turned into a monster and was brought back from the far ends of humanity.

James tried to offer Thomas a reassuring smile but it probably looked more like a grimace.

His grimace must have somehow resonated with Thomas because Thomas widened his eyes at James and made a small gasp.

The dark curtains of his eyes were drawn back and sunlight shone through. James took a step back, overwhelmed by the sudden flood of emotions that collided in Thomas’ eyes.

Recognition. Relief. Gratitude. Trust. Safety. _Attraction. Interest._

Wait, what?

Thomas straightened, offering James a smile, parted lips revealing pearly white teeth and no fangs. If they weren’t in their current tensed situation, James might have been inclined to call the lopsided grin _flirty_.

“James, right on time,” the doctor interrupted their little moment together.

“James,” Thomas repeated to himself, James’ name smooth in his velvet voice.

James’ heart skipped a beat.

“James, put your weapon away and come here,” the doctor beckoned, “Sit next to him.”

James pushed his rifle across his back and walked over to the crowd around Thomas.

Under Thomas’ watch, James was suddenly self-conscious about the way he walked. He suddenly regretted his years of training the default serious frown on his face. He was hypersensitive about the way his muscles twitched. Thomas just kept staring at him, a sparkle in his eyes as James approached. A nurse pulled out a stool for James and James took a seat beside Thomas, turning stiffly to face him.

Thomas reached both hands out and clasped James’ right hand, never breaking eye contact. Emotions flitted across Thomas’ gaze so quickly James could hardly catch them all.

Amazement. Wonderment. Joy. Happiness.

James’ heart pounded loudly in his chest as though to inform Thomas that he felt the same way.

“Mr Jefferson, this is James Madison. He is the leader of the elite hunters and the man who saved you.”

“H-Hi.” James stammered in awe, then cleared his throat and tried again. “Hi.”

“Thank you, I owe you my life.” Thomas spoke solemnly and earnestly.

“Just doing my job, Mr Jefferson.” James nodded.

“Call me Thomas, please,” Thomas said.

“Thomas,” James echoed.

The both of them fell silent and stared. Stared into each other’s eyes, searching deep in each other’s souls, feeling the same stir in each other’s hearts.

Thomas brought James’ hand to his lips and kissed between his knuckles, never breaking eye contact with him.

James was sure his cheeks became a bouquet of roses.

“Mr Jefferson, now that James is here and you’re feeling better, I would like to ask you some questions,” the doctor interrupted their moment together, receiving a clipboard from a nurse. “We have gathered that you do recall what happened during your short period as a vampire.”

Thomas stiffened, his grip tightening around James’ hand.

Fear. Panic. Confusion. Helplessness.

James could empathise with him. Those were the exact emotions his 8-year-old self had felt the day his parents were killed by the vampire. Some days, James still felt like that.

“Do you know why you were chosen as the Vampire Prince?” the doctor rattled off the questions from her clipboard. “Do you have any intel on the Vampire royalty? Do you know what the vampires are planning; picking you as their Prince after decades without new vampire royalty? Can you tell us-”

With every invasive and insistent question, Thomas shrunk smaller and smaller in his seat.

“Hey!” James raised his voice, cutting the doctor off. He glared at her, who finally noticed the way Thomas was trying to become invisible or disappear. She bit her lip, realising she had pushed too hard. At the guilt in her eyes, James softened his tone. “I think I can do the questioning,” he told her.

She nodded and handed James her clipboard, gesturing for the rest of the medical personnel to follow her out.

She closed the door, leaving Thomas and James alone in the room.

James tossed the clipboard away and squeezed Thomas’ hand, hoping to keep his distance yet remain a comforting presence. Thomas hadn’t released his hand so that must be a good sign that he wanted James here with him.

“You’re safe,” James tried using the words that had comforted him all those years ago, lowering his voice as so not to startle Thomas. “You’re human and you’re in the Hunters Headquarters. You were strong and you won and now you’re safe. We will protect you from _them_. I will protect you from them. I swear on my life that I will never let any of them come near you ever again.”

James thought that he had finished a little too strongly but it must have been the right thing to say because Thomas let out a breath he was holding, leaning back against the chair and pulling James closer.

Thomas rubbed circles with his thumb into James’ hand. A little forceful, as though to convince himself that James really was there next to him.

“I promise,” James said again.

Thomas rested his head on James’ shoulder and began to shake with silent sobs.

James squeezed Thomas’ hand again.

Thomas’ sobs eventually turned to sniffles and he fell asleep on James’ shoulder, his hands still cocooning one of James’.

James kept his promise and stayed awake throughout the night to protect Thomas.

\--------

James didn’t see much of Thomas during his first week as a human. The medical unit filled Thomas’ days with tests to ensure that he was 100% biologically human. James himself was dealing with some administrative issues. He requested (for professional reasons only) to be reassigned to look after Thomas, which meant relinquishing his position of leader to someone else. Of course he picked Aaron, but there were papers to sign and authorities to answer to and hunters he had to appease.

James’ request was approved. Authorities agreed that they needed someone to ensure Thomas did not display any vampiric quirks. James was to ensure that Thomas was truly 100% human again, or shoot him dead on the spot. He would be assigned to Thomas until they deemed him ready to rejoin society.

This meant that Thomas was not a danger to the society (in the case that they didn’t cleanse his system fully of vampire blood and he had a vampiric relapse) and that Thomas would not be in danger when released to join society (that the vampires wouldn’t come after him again).

After the week of tests, Thomas was moved into an observational room and James moved in with him. The room was simple- two beds with a table between. As he entered, James was taken aback by the change in Thomas: his sparkling eyes, his confident stance, his carefree laugh. He was no longer burdened by his experiences as a vampire.

“We meet again, James,” Thomas greeted, taking James’ hand with a bow and pressing a gentlemanly kiss to the back of his hand. “Perhaps now I can get to know you a little better.”

James giggled in response and pushed his rifle across his back. He wouldn’t be needing it.

They spent the first day introducing themselves to each other. James described his job as a hunter and allowed Thomas to touch his modified rifle with the stake. He learnt that Thomas was part of the team researching to find a vampire cure and that he was optimistic about their chances of finding a possible cure.

James smiled. He wouldn’t be opposed to a world where vampires lived in harmony with humans. It would mean that vampires were no longer predators; that vampires no longer hurt humans. It would mean that he no longer needed to kill to protect his kind.

Thomas did most of the talking; James was content to simply gaze at Thomas and admire his enthusiasm, his hands moving rapidly as he spoke amicably. James wasn’t sure if Thomas caught him staring or if Thomas was equally interested in him, but at one point in time, Thomas fell silent and their hands found each other.

“I don’t know what I’d be without you,” Thomas murmured. “I might have been a vampire. I might be dead.”

“But you’re not,” James squeezed his hand.

“I’m not,” Thomas agreed, looking deep into his eyes, “I’m here, by your side. I’m such a lucky man.”

_Man, not monster._

“Man,” James repeated, more to himself than Thomas, then shook his head and smiled when Thomas raised a questioning eyebrow.

That night, James learnt that while Thomas was able to push his fears away in the day, his nightmares were far from over.

Thomas sat up screaming in the middle of the night.

James scrambled out of his bed and sat at the edge of Thomas’ bed, taking his hand. He grasped Thomas’ hand tightly until his heaving stopped.

James asked, “Vampires?”

“No,” Thomas shuddered, still breathing heavily, his voice shaking. “Falling. I’m watching myself fall. I’m disappearing down a dark hole. I can’t save myself. I can’t find myself anymore.”

“Are you afraid of heights?” James tried to tease, tried to lighten the mood, tried to make Thomas smile again.

Thomas didn’t grace his question with a verbal response. He turned to James, haunted eyes filled with the darkness of death.

James didn’t know what kind of falling dreams had caused that kind of fear in Thomas’ eyes but he never tried to joke about Thomas’ nightmares again.

The doctor came by every morning to give them breakfast and take Thomas’ vital signs. Thomas wasn’t allowed to leave his room or contact the outside world (lest the vampires tracked his phone signal) so they brought in books for him to read and allowed him to play with small amounts of diluted chemicals to keep his scientific brain working.

Thomas, however, was more interested in James than the books or lab chemicals.

Every morning, James would wake up to see Thomas rolled on his side, gazing at James, afro flattened against his face. His sleepy eyes would light up with a smile when he noticed that James was awake.

To see Thomas’ smile first thing in the morning made James’ day.

“Good morning,” Thomas would greet, his morning voice soft and gruff. James would feel the flutter in his chest, would feel the way his trained frown rebel and the corners of his lips lift in response to Thomas.

Everyday was another date with Thomas.

“Look, it’s a smiley face,” Thomas would slide his breakfast plate across the table between their beds. There would be a slice of toast acting as the face, cherry tomatoes as eyes and a sausage as the mouth. “You should smile more,” Thomas would say.

Sometimes it would be a star. “Just like you,” Thomas would tell James.

Sometimes it would be a heart. “You know what that means,” Thomas would suggest, before taking his plate back and gobbling up the rest of his food. James couldn’t read his downcast eyes but his red cheeks were an unmistakable giveaway of shyness.

James would reach across the beds and take Thomas’ hand.

“I do,” James would whisper, and smile when Thomas squeezed his hand in relief.

Everyday, James fell a little more in love with Thomas.

The nightmares that woke Thomas up screaming in the middle of the night gradually became rarer.

On the nights Thomas woke up screaming, James would climb out of his bed and into Thomas’. He would hold Thomas close and whisper assuring words while he trembled in his arms. He would wipe the tears from Thomas’ eyes and promise that he wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Falling again?” James would ask softly.

Thomas would hug his knees to his chest and nod.

“But I’m not scared anymore,” Thomas would say, despite the way his voice quivered, “Not with you.”

“Not with me,” James would agree in a murmur, tightening his arm around Thomas, “I won’t let you fall.”

Thomas would rest his head on James’ shoulder and they both sat comforted in the presence of the other, gradually drifting back to sleep.

\---------

Four months later, Thomas’ condition was deemed stable and he was discharged. He wasn’t allowed to return to his old life yet; no, the danger had not passed for him. He would be moving into James’ room.

Aaron was waiting for them when James led Thomas into his new room by the hand.

“Mr Jefferson,” Aaron stood up from where he was sitting on James’ bed. He wore his stern hunter expression, reaching out a polite hand. “Aaron Burr. James’ elder brother and his right hand man.”

“Oh, you guys are brothers?” Thomas looked between them, taking Aaron’s hand.

“Kind of. My parents were hunters. I was born here. When James was brought in, he was eight and I was ten so we grew up together. He’s always been my little brother,” Aaron nodded solemnly.

“He doesn’t have to know this,” James rolled his eyes.

“He does if he’s planning to transition from boyfriend to husband one day,” Aaron continued, serious as ever.

“ _Aaron_!” James hissed, eyes darting up to look at Thomas’ reaction to that, tightening his grip around Thomas’ hand, cheeks warming. “He’s not my- It has only been- I don’t- _Don’t ruin my chances_!”

Thomas turned to James with wide eyes. Surprise. Amusement. Mischief.

“As you can see, James isn’t very good with his words,” Aaron said, “he’s more of a physical expression type.”

“That’s fine by me,” Thomas responded, draping his free arm around James’ shoulders and pulling him closer. “He has a big gun.”

Aaron blinked at Thomas and a grin broke his serious demeanour. “Finally! Someone that appreciates my humour!”

James frowned as they shared a light-hearted chuckle and Thomas released James to wrap Aaron in a bro hug. James didn’t understand the joke.

“What does my rifle have to do with me?” he asked.

“The room’s all yours,” Aaron continued as though he didn’t hear James’ question, but the twinkle in his and Thomas’ eyes told James otherwise. “I’ve moved my stuff into the room down the hall.”

“Was I reallocated to take your bed?” Thomas grasped Aaron’s hand. “I’m sorry, man.”

“No worries, I’m just glad James has finally found someone,” Aaron turned to James and shook his head fondly. “Living for revenge is not healthy. Living for love; now that's something I can support.”

“Living for revenge?” Thomas turned towards James, brows furrowed in worry.

“I don’t only live for revenge,” James huffed, “I live to protect others from experiencing my pain. I kill to stop vampires from hurting others.”

“Vampires killed his parents,” Aaron continued to paint the dismal- and somewhat distorted- picture of James’ past. “He lives to return the favour.”

“That’s not what I-”

“Jemmy, I’m so sorry,” Thomas interrupted him with a mournful voice and pulled him into a hug.

_Jemmy._

The nickname warmed his heart.

James smiled, closing his eyes. Thomas had his arms resting around James’ shoulders, hands clasped at the back. James leaned his head against Thomas’ chest as Thomas swayed James in his arms to the rhythm of his heart.

He trusted Thomas. He felt safe in Thomas’ embrace. He could afford to relax in Thomas’ arms.

“Now that’s the sort of expression I want to see more often,” Aaron spoke up.

James opened his eyes to see Aaron looking at him, head tilted up in a pleased expression, his arms crossed over his chest. James frowned in question and Aaron uncrossed his arms to wave them in the air.

“No! No frowning! Put the lovey-dovey expression back on,” Aaron demanded.

“You’re scaring him,” Thomas laughed softly, turning around so he blocked James’ view of Aaron.

Aaron chuckled. “James, I’m going to train the new batch of hunters,” Aaron raised his voice to inform him, out of sight, before he fell silent. James supposed Thomas and Aaron were now staring at each other.

Thomas tensed slightly. With his head against Thomas’ chest, James could hear Thomas’ heartbeat race as Aaron sized him up. He was being subjected to the ‘sibling approval’, so to speak.

Aaron must have made a sign of approval because Thomas relaxed again.

“Love James as much as I loved my dear Theodosia,” Aaron told him firmly.

“I will,” Thomas promised, and James closed his eyes again as the door closed.

Thomas’ embrace was so warm and comforting. James never wanted to let go.

“Theodosia?” Thomas asked when they could no longer hear Aaron’s brisk footsteps down the hall.

“His girlfriend,” James mumbled, “A vampire kidnapped her two years ago. We believe she’s dead.”

“Oh Jemmy, I’m sorry that happened,” Thomas whispered.

With James still in his arms, Thomas shuffled across the room and sat them down at the edge of his bed. Gently, he eased James aside and James blinked at the sudden loss of Thomas’ arms around him, the sudden removal of his source of warmth and comfort and safety.

“You’ve never really let your guard down all these years, have you?” Thomas asked gently as he pulled James’ rifle off his back and placed it on the bed.

James shook his head, curling into Thomas’ side as Thomas rested his arm over James’ shoulders.

James looked up at Thomas and Thomas looked down at him fondly, eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled.

Happiness. Patience. Comfort. Adoration. _Love._

James was sure he was in love with Thomas too.

“Not even with Aaron?” Thomas continued.

“I can’t,” James shook his head again, “If I do, the vampires will get me.”

Thomas held him closer. “I’ll protect you,” Thomas solemnly swore. “They’ll never get you.”

“I’m supposed to be protecting _you_ ,” James pointed out with a smile.

“We’ll protect each other,” Thomas suggested.

James nodded, pushing Thomas’ arm off his shoulders, reminded of his assigned job scope, deciding that was enough cuddles for one day. Thomas blinked at him, surprised at his sudden change of attitude.

“Thomas,” James said, sitting up straight, “Are you ready to answer the questions about being a vampire?”

Thomas’ smile faltered. The glimmer in his eyes flickered as Thomas hesitated.

“I need to know this information so I can protect you,” James explained, intertwining their fingers as silent support.

“I guess it’s been long enough,” Thomas forced out a laugh, turning away and casting his gaze to the ground.

James struggled to read his stiff body language instead of being able to directly read the emotions in his eyes. Was Thomas afraid? Was he troubled? James couldn’t tell.

“How did they find you?” James began gently.

“In my lab,” Thomas began, “They just… they took me when I was working late in my lab one night. I don’t know how they got past the security system. I didn’t even hear them enter my lab. One moment I was writing my lab report and the next… they just grabbed me from behind. I tried to fight but they’re vampires. They transported me to the house in the woods and put me in a chair and hooked me up to some vampire blood-”

Thomas stopped, shuddering at the memory.

“Everything happened so quickly. It was so scary,” Thomas whispered.

James squeezed his hand. “Did you know you were going to be the Vampire Prince?”

“Yeah,” Thomas swallowed, “Maybe. I think one of my kidnappers mentioned that. I don’t know. I was trying to break free.”

“Do you know why you were going to be their Prince?” James asked softly.

“I don’t know. Revenge, maybe. I think they knew I was part of the team researching to find a cure. They probably just wanted to prevent me from finishing my research. I was probably just the unlucky one they found alone in the lab that night.”

“Why turn you? Why not just kill you?”

“I don’t know, okay?!” Thomas turned to James, voice rising and shrilling at the end of the sentence, pulling his hand out of James’ grip.

James did a double take as he met Thomas’ glare.

Pain. Fear. Confusion. Anger.

“I’m sorry,” James whispered, heart wringing at the emotional torture he had brought to Thomas just by forcing him to recall those memories.

He hurt Thomas. He was just trying to help but he hurt Thomas, just like how the vampires hurt Thomas. He was just as bad as the vampires. He was a monster. He was a _monster_ -

Something in his expression must have changed because Thomas widened his eyes and those negative emotions disappeared in an instant.

Care. Worry. Sorrow. Regret.

Thomas wrapped him in a hug.

“No, I’m sorry,” Thomas told him, “You’re trying to help me. You did nothing wrong, James, honey. I’m sorry for overreacting. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“I’m a monster,” James whispered.

“You’re not, Jemmy,” Thomas assured, pulling away to look at him in the eyes. Truth. Conviction. Thomas meant every word he said. “You’re not a monster. You’re an angel. You’re my angel.”

“Okay,” James whispered.

Thomas wasn’t satisfied with James’ response. He must have been acting on instinct, trying to find a better way to express himself. Thomas cupped James’ cheeks with both hands and pulled him into a soft kiss.

The world and all his problems faded away. All that mattered were Thomas’ soft touch and the way his heart fluttered in response. Nothing could hurt him when he was in the warmth of Thomas’ arms. They would take on the world together.

Was this how it felt like to be in love?

The kiss ended too quickly, with Thomas freezing up and pulling away.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” Thomas stammered, “I shouldn’t have done that. We haven’t known each other for very long. It was inappropriate of me to-”

“Shut up, Thomas,” James said, words emerging before he could think it through, wrapping his arms around Thomas’ neck and pulling him back into the kiss.

Thomas relaxed, resting his arms around James’ waist. Soft, gentle, loving; the kiss was perfect.

Thomas was perfect.

“Wow,” Thomas let out a breathy laugh as they broke apart. He pulled James even closer, never breaking his gaze. He looked like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind and said, “We haven’t known each other for very long.”

“But we’ve been together for 4 months, day and night. Technically, you’ve courted me for maybe, a hundred and twenty dates. We’ve seen each other at our best and our worst. I think I…” James hesitated.

James wasn’t used to being so blunt about his emotions. He wasn’t used to being vulnerable. He had swore never to be vulnerable again. He was untouchable. It was easier to kill if you didn’t feel.

James’ pause dragged on. Thomas’ arm around his waist tightened in anticipation.

“I love you,” Thomas blurted, breaking the silence, unable to stop himself, then slapped a hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry, I just-”

“I love you too,” James exhaled, relieved.

With Thomas, everything was different.

“Aha!” Both of them jumped at the sudden shout, turning towards Aaron who stood by the door. “I knew it! I told you so!”

“ _Aaron_!” James hissed, flushing red, holding Thomas close as though Aaron would take him away. “When did you- you’re not funny- _stop ruining everything_!”

Thomas chuckled at James’ fluster.

“I’m the elder brother! My job is to ruin everything!” Aaron declared.

“Don’t-” James began, but Thomas hushed him with a finger on his lips.

“Ignore him,” Thomas muttered, pulling him into another kiss.

James closed his eyes and allowed the world to disappear.

■■■■■

Thomas was given a week to adjust to his new surroundings in the hunters’ wing of headquarters. He met James’ (well, Aaron’s) elite team and thanked each of them for saving him. He was teased by the elite hunters for his near-death experience and gazed upon in wonderment by newbie hunters for surviving that near-death experience.

A week later, James led Thomas into an empty room with a mirror wall, a couple of dummies and cupboard. James opened the cupboard and revealed some high-tech gadgets but took out a set of wooden nunchucks and slapped them into Thomas’ hands.

“We’ll use the tech later. Today,” James announced, placing his rifle on the floor and taking another set of wooden nunchucks for himself before closing the cupboard, “you’re going to learn how to defend yourself.”

“Nunchucks? Really?” Thomas held one handle and swung the other in a circle. “Why do you get a rifle and Aaron gets revolvers but I don’t get something as cool, like, a crossbow?”

“Nunchucks are practical. You can keep it on you all the time. You can slot it in your belt. You can hide it in a drawer at your lab. Plus, it’s a great beginner weapon to master speed, strength and precision,” James told him.

“You’re getting into the zone,” Thomas teased, “You’re frowning. You’re using your training voice, the voice you use with the hunters.”

James simply pushed a dummy towards Thomas and gestured at it.

“Hit it,” James said, just as stern as before.

Thomas sobered up, seeming to realise that this was a serious lesson. He swung the end of the nunchuck against the rubber head and beamed triumphantly as the dummy shook on its stand.

James shook his head.

“That’s sloppy. It’s all about the initial way you move your body. The way you swing your arm when striking. The amount of force you throw into the swing,” James explained, swinging his nunchucks in figure-8 circles. “Everything has to flow into one precise strike,” James continued, lashing out and chopping the head of the dummy off the body with a clean strike. “That’s how you kill a vampire.”

“Kill?” Thomas hesitated. “Can I just knock them out or something?”

“Thomas, they attack in groups. If it’s just one vampire, sure, you can knock it out and run away. But if they attack in groups, you’ll want to aim to kill.”

“But how do you… kill?” Thomas drooped his shoulders, “I know they’re monsters but killing is so… extreme.”

James took a deep breath, walking around the dummy to stand next to Thomas and gesturing for him to face the mirror. “Let’s practise while I talk,” he said.

James demonstrated an underarm twirl and showed Thomas how to wrap the handles around his body before lashing out again.

“Anger is a good initial motivation,” James began as they repeated the action, “I start all my raids by seeking revenge for my parents’ unjustified death. But emotions drain your energy. You have to learn to close yourself off, just like the vampires. If you can turn off your emotions and just focus on the action itself, killing becomes a sort of monotony. It’s easier to kill when you don’t feel.”

James paused to adjust Thomas’ standing position and looked up to see his disturbed expression. Thomas released one end of the nunchuck and used his free hand to cup James’ cheek, staring deep into his eyes.

Worry. Concern. Sadness.

“How do you just… switch off?” Thomas’ voice softened.

“i’ve had years of practise,” James responded.

“Oh, Jemmy,” Thomas whispered, sorrowful. “I wish I could have been there for you all those years ago. I wish you never had to feel the pain that brought you here today.”

“I’m over it,” James shrugged.

“You’re not,” Thomas said quietly, stroking James’ cheek with his thumb. “You still use your hatred of them to kill them. You just said so.”

“Maybe it’s better if I just show you,” James said, pulling away from Thomas and walking across the room to the cupboard. He pulled out two VR headsets and threw one to Thomas.

“Are we going to play a game?” Thomas brightened, dropping the nunchucks to catch the headset and gasping in pain when the heavy nunchucks fell on his foot.

“You could say that,” James said, amused by Thomas’ clumsiness, fiddling with a laptop in the cupboard before closing the cupboard doors again. “Wear the headset.”

James strapped his own headset on and turned to Thomas’ virtual self in their connected virtual world.

“Woah,” Thomas said, turning around to look at the jungle they were in. He looked down to see the virtual nunchucks at the same spot he had dropped it. Thomas bent down to pick the nunchucks up and swung it around his body like how James had just taught him to. “This technology is so accurate and realistic.”

“Of course,” James nodded, “how else do you think we have our hunters practising in a safe but realistic environment?”

“I thought that-”

“Get ready,” James interrupted him, turning to face the direction of the mirror wall. Of course, what stood before them now was nothing but endless jungle trees. “Try to feel angry,” James advised, “It’s a good way to start.”

“Start what?” Thomas said, bouncing on his toes.

“Killing,” James said, swinging his nunchuck at the vampire that raced towards him.

James cut the vampire’s head clean off its neck but Thomas yelped and stumbled back, falling and cowering as the virtual vampire approaching him snarled and grabbed him before disappearing when it touched Thomas’ virtual self.

“Why do the fake vampires look like Aaron?!” Thomas cried, waving his hands in front of him as he lay uselessly on the ground.

“We always practise on images of each other,” James explained, killing another virtual Aaron-vampire as it lunged at him from a tree. “That way we’re prepared to kill each other if we’re ever transformed.”

“Oh my god,” Thomas groaned, scrambling away from an Aaron-vampire that tried to grab him from behind. Thomas grabbed James’ ankle and James stumbled with the sudden restriction holding him down. “Oh my god. This is brutal.”

“Get up and fight!” James snapped at Thomas, instinctively kicking him as though he was one of James’ elite hunters messing up, swinging at the vampires as they approached, “You’re going to die!”

“Maybe this is a little too intense for my first lesson,” Thomas laughed nervously. “Maybe we can go back to the dummy?”

James heard Thomas, but he wasn’t _listening_ to Thomas. He was reacting, not thinking. He was in ‘the zone’- adrenaline pumping, emotions stripped, a killing machine.

 _“James!”_ James thought he heard Thomas shout, but the difficulty was increasing and the vampires were piling up. If Thomas wasn’t going to protect himself from the vampires then he’d have to do the killing for both of them. Of course, having inputted two players into the system meant there were twice as many vampires to fend off.

The vampires were gaining on him. It was getting harder to kill the vampires at a distance; he had started to use the nunchucks as brutal stakes, driving the blunt ends of the wooden handles into the vampires’ chests. James couldn’t keep up with their supernatural speed. He couldn’t keep up with the supernatural agility. The moment he killed one, another two tried to grab him from behind. It was a losing battle. Everytime he turned, there was another dozen vampires throwing themselves at him.

_Weak._

His nunchucks were slippery with vampire blood. His feet were heavy in the jungle mud. His vision was covered in white spots.

_Pathetic._

He was tired. He wasn’t used to fighting this many vampires alone. Why was he alone? Why was he in this jungle? Where had everyone else went?

_Dead._

The chain of his nunchucks had broken. Frustrated, James screamed at the vampire in front of him and hurled the two wooden handles at it, knocking it backwards. Useless. Helpless. Defenseless.

James’ shoulders slumped. He just wanted to curl up and hide.

“JAMES!”

Thomas shouted from absolutely no where, jumping in front of him and knocking him down to the ground. James heaved beneath Thomas as vampires piled up on them. James widened his eyes as Thomas winced at the way the vampires clawed at him, red eyes glowing, fangs snapping too close for comfort.

**DEATH. GAME OVER.**

James flopped down in the mud, breathing heavily, tension leaving his muscles. Thomas groaned and rolled off him, rubbing at the phantom pain in his limbs.

Thomas’ virtual self disappeared from his side as he removed the VR headset. Seconds after, Thomas was pulling James’ VR headset off him too, bringing him back to reality.

James squinted at the fluorescent light bulbs as he lay on the ground. His chest hurt from breathing too sharply and deeply. James turned his attention to Thomas who was sitting up, looking down at him.

“Are you…” Thomas swallowed in an attempt to regulate his heavy breathing, “Are you okay?”

“You saved my life,” James said, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He raised his hands and gazed at his blood-free palms then stared across the room where a set of broken nunchucks had shattered a significant portion of the mirror wall.

“I had to repay my life debt to you,” Thomas chuckled.

“Thomas,” James turned back to him, “You refused to attack any vampire but you were willing to sacrifice your life for me. Why?”

Thomas only took James’ hand and leaned forward to kiss him on the lips.

“Thomas,” James frowned as they pulled apart.

“Jemmy,” Thomas mocked teasingly, then laughed and turned away. “I was so close to being one of them, one of the vampires. I’ve kind of internalised that possibility,” Thomas sighed, “but I would never forgive myself if I ever allowed them to touch you.”

“So you would protect me even if it meant your death?”

“I would die for you,” Thomas looked up and swore, the intensity in his gaze meaning every word he said.

James kissed him.

“Let’s change that to, you would fight for me, yeah?” James smiled, resting his forehead against Thomas’.

“Yeah,” Thomas agreed, returning the smile. “Yeah, okay.”

“Not okay,” Aaron groaned from the door.

“Aaron!” James jumped, pulling apart before smiling sheepishly when Thomas pulled him closer. “Stop doing that!”

“Not okay, James. I heard screaming and ran here. What do I find? A broken weapon and a broken mirror. You know that we import handmade nunchucks authentically from Japan, right? Do you know how expensive that is? You know that now that I’m the leader, I have to answer to the authorities, right?” Aaron shook his head.

“I’ll do it. I’ll talk to the authorities. I can handle this for you,” James stood up and picked up his rifle, only to yelp when Thomas swept him off his feet.

“Whoops, it looks like James is busy,” Thomas declared, bouncing out of the room, “I guess you’ll have to deal with this yourself. Bye Aaron!”

“He’s a bad influence on you!” Aaron yelled after them, but James could hear the smile in his voice.

James could see the wide grin on Thomas’ face as he carried him, bridal style, back to their room.

James hugged his rifle to his chest and relaxed in Thomas’ arms. He laughed openly for the first time since he was brought to the Hunters’ Headquarters as a child. He relished in the shocked gazes the other hunters looked at him with.

Serious James Madison, ex-leader of the elite hunters, laughing? Impossible!

James couldn’t help it. Thomas made him so happy.

He loved Thomas so much.

■■■■■■

“Mr Jefferson, you’re free to go.”

“Thank you, mam,” James saluted and turned to usher Thomas out of the room.

“YESSSSSSSS!” Thomas hollered as soon as James closed the office door behind them.

“Thomas!” James hissed, tugging him by the arm out of the administrative wing and down the long corridor back to the hunters’ wing. “Don’t shout here!”

“We’re free, Jemmy!” Thomas exclaimed, picking James up in his arms and doing a little twirl in the middle of the corridor before pulling him in for a tight embrace. “We can finally go on proper dates! I can bring you to my lab and tell everyone I have a boyfriend now! Well, they probably want to know that I’m alive first but you’re more interesting than my mortality-”

“Thomas!” James raised his voice sharply, pulling apart. “Didn’t you hear what she said? The danger’s not over. I’m supposed to be moving in with you and continue to watch you for the next few months at least.”

“I wasn’t really listening after she said I was free to go,” Thomas admitted sheepishly, laughing as he cradled James’ waist with an arm and pulled him back in. James couldn’t help the smile that broke his serious frown. “But you’re not mad about having to follow me everywhere, are you?”

“Of course not,” James softened, “I’m just worried. It’s been a year since we saved you, Thomas. You’re decent with the nunchucks-”

“Because I had the best teacher,” Thomas kissed his forehead.

“-but the thought that the vampires never gave up looking for you? That they still want you as their Prince? That scares me, Thomas,” James bit his lip and lowered his voice as though someone would overhear their conversation, “What are they planning?”

Thomas shrugged. “But I’m not afraid,” Thomas declared confidently. “I’m not afraid. Are you afraid?”

“I am, Thomas,” James whispered. “I am.”

“Oh, Jemmy,” Thomas pulled him into another hug. “You know what would take your mind off your worries?”

“What?” James looked up at him.

“Shopping,” Thomas grinned. “It’s been _forever_ since I splurged on myself and this time, I’ll splurge on you too.”

“We have to weaponize your house and your lab and set traps and install cameras first, and then we have to talk to your co-workers about what happened that day-”

“Jemmy, it’s sunday, no one is at work today,” Thomas interrupted his rambling, placing his hands on James’ shoulder and shaking the tension out of him, “but after you install all the hunter stuff to protect my house, I’m bringing you to shop for anything and everything you ever wanted.”

“I have everything that I need-”

“Uh-uh,” Thomas waggled a finger, raising a mischievous eyebrow, “don’t be too sure about that.”

\--------

James clung on to Thomas’ arm, uncomfortable in the crowded mall without his rifle or his bulletproof vest. Thomas had said that no one brought weapons or wore armour to malls. James didn’t understand how anyone would protect themselves if vampires decided to target this mall. Thomas said vampires didn’t target crowded places like malls.

“Here we are,” Thomas interrupted the glaring contest James was having with a mannequin he was sure was a vampire spy. Thomas pulled James into a clothings store that was mostly empty, tensing when someone in a vest approached them. James made a mental note of his nametag- _Benson_ \- in case he had to report back to headquarters if this man turned out to be a vampire sympathiser.

“Mr Jefferson! How great to see you again. It’s been so long. What have you been up to?” Benson greeted cordially.

“I’ve been courting this man,” Thomas gestured at James, who deepened his frown and narrowed his eyes at Benson in response. “As you can see, he’s a rather tensed guy. I’m here to splurge on him today.”

“Ah! Of course! The casual section is over there, as always, and I will be here to assist you if you need anything,” Benson gestured across the store and beamed.

“Thank you,” Thomas returned the smile and dragged a tensed James across the store and behind a pillar before turning to him. “James,” Thomas spoke in a low voice, bending down so he was at eye level with him, massaging James’ tensed upper arms in an attempt to help him relax. “I know you’ve dealt with people trying to kill you in your whole life, but I swear that no one here wants to harm you.”

“But how do you know that?” James raised his voice, “What if I turn around and he tries to kill you?”

“James,” Thomas shook him, “These are normal people like you and me. They are not vampires. They are not vampire spies. They are not vampire sympathisers. They are normal humans who are just trying to live a normal life. Repeat after me. No one is trying to kill you.”

“No one is trying to kill me,” James muttered, glancing sideways. “I guess I’m the monster now, huh?”

“Jemmy,” Thomas sighed, pulling him into another hug, “You’re an angel. You’re an angel for looking out for me. You’re an angel for everything you do for humanity. But right now, I just want you to relax, okay? You’re not in danger; I’m not in danger. I want you to just enjoy yourself.”

“Okay,” James took a deep breath, shaking himself in an attempt to relax, “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Thomas teased, poking his cheek with a finger, “Where’s that smile I love so much?”

James allowed his lips to lift into a smile, just as he caught something from the corner of his eyes.

“What’s that?” James pointed, and Thomas turned around to look.

“Ah! Now we’re getting somewhere. It’s a woolen sweater. Super comfy. I bet you’ve never tried it before,” Thomas grinned, holding it up for James.

“It’s not practical,” James concluded, feeling the material between two fingers. “Look at how the material stretches. It traps heat and restricts movement. How are you supposed to fight-”

“Jemmy,” Thomas warned.

James bit his lip and stopped. “No, I’ve never tried it before,” James admitted, “it looks nice. It feels nice.”

“Perfect,” Thomas snapped his fingers, “BENSON! I want woolen sweaters in all available colours tailored just for my boyfriend.”

\---------

_“Jemmy, wake up.”_

_“Hmm? What time is it? Why didn’t my alarm ring? I have to get ready-”_

_“I turned off your alarm, James. You need to learn to relax. There’s no schedule here, no duties. I want you to experience life like a normal human.”_

_“I have to go the lab with you- I have to protect you-”_

_“Oh no, you’re not. I’m safe with all the added security the hunters have installed in my lab. I’ll bring my nunchucks, okay? I want you to stay here.”_

_“No, I gotta-”_

_“James, you will stay here and I know just the thing to keep you here. No, don’t take your rifle; you don’t need your rifle. In fact, you don’t need anything at all.”_

**RING!**

James jumped at the sudden noise in his ear and reached a lazy hand up to his waterproof bluetooth headset, answering the call.

“Hello?”

“JAMES!” Aaron screeched into his ear, “You’re alive!”

“Of course I’m alive,” James rippled the bubbles on the water with a hand. “Can’t you see from the cameras in the house?”

“We didn’t install a camera in the bathroom, James,” Aaron snapped, “and you have been in the bathroom since Thomas left for work this morning. The last thing we saw was Thomas scooping you from the bed and carrying you into the bathroom before leaving the house alone. I thought you were supposed to be watching him?”

“He wanted me to stay at home,” James drawled, slightly aware of the southern accent he must have picked up from Thomas. “I couldn’t say no.”

“Why not?”

“He made me a bubble bath,” James smiled, waving a hand underneath the water. “Have you ever taken a bubble bath? It’s so calming and Thomas has these little jets in the tub and he said it’s called a jacuzzi and it gives you an underwater massage-”

“James, I don’t care about your new, rich, luxurious life,” Aaron sounded impatient and James wondered if that was how he had sounded like his entire life. “You were sent to do a job and you better do it!”

“I’ve done it all, Aaron,” James lifted his hands to tick what he had done off his fingers. “I’ve interviewed all his co-workers- no one provided any new information, by the way. I’ve double checked- triple checked all the vampire traps in the house and at the lab. I’m still working out every day and I make sure Thomas practises his nunchucks too. This is the first time in two months I haven’t accompanied Thomas to his lab. And that’s only because Thomas distracted me in the morning.”

Aaron took a deep breath. “James,” he began seriously, “You know the drill. Don’t let your guard down. Thomas’ life and yours are on the line.”

“I know, Aaron,” James huffed, “I don’t need you to remind me. He’s _my_ boyfriend.”

“I don’t mean to spoil your fun, James,” Aaron sighed, “I know you want to just settle down and enjoy a proper life with him. It’s just that, the danger hasn’t passed-”

“It’s just one day, Aaron!” James raised his voice in frustration.

“There’s no room for mistakes-”

“You’re not my mom!” James yelled into the headset and hung up the call, ripping his bluetooth headset off, tossing it into the water. He pouted and folded his arms, sinking chin-deep into the bubbly water.

Maybe Aaron was right. Maybe he was becoming lazy. Maybe he was taking their safety for granted. Maybe Thomas’ attempts to help him relax was really distracting him from what he was supposed to do.

James reached a hand out of the water and grabbed his waterproof phone sitting atop the soap holder.

**13:04 To Thomas: u ok?**

**13:06 From Thomas: I should be asking you that ;) Miss you!!**

**13:07 To Thomas: will b following u 2 lab tmr**

**13:08 From Thomas: Take a break!! I’m fine!!**

**13:08 To Thomas: no break until we kill all the vamps**

**13:10 From Thomas: :(**

James smiled at the message then bit his lip. He couldn’t let Aaron know he was right. He _would_ take a break, but only in defiance. If Aaron thought that he hadn’t been serious about his job the past two months with Thomas, he would be very upset at what he would be watching James do today.

James unplugged the tub and rinsed the soap off under the shower before wrapping himself in a towel and ignoring the hunter clothes Thomas had laid out for him. James opened the closet and pulled out one of the woolen sweaters that Thomas had bought for him at the beginning of last month, but he had yet to wear. He pulled on the grey sweater and picked a baggy pair of comfortable pajama pants (that Thomas had insisted to buy for him as well) to go with it.

James could feel Aaron’s anger radiating from the cameras watching him. His bluetooth headset must be vibrating with Aaron’s desperate calls. Too bad James had left it in the tub. Too bad the phone in his pocket was of a different number that only Thomas knew.

The clothes he was wearing felt so different from the rough fabric he was used to. Wool was not practical to fight in, but it certainly made him feel like warm bread just out of the toaster.

Mmm, toasted bread. He hadn’t eaten it for years. In fact, he hadn’t tried pastries for years. Back at headquarters, they were fed sensible meals that complimented their physically active lifestyles and James had kept to that diet after he and Thomas moved out of headquarters.

Well, not today.

James was surprised to find out that his years of hunter training came in handy when baking. Precision and timing came easily as James kept his eyes on the clock and his hands steady when measuring ingredients. James threw the eggs and cracked them with the end of the whisk in the air, before grabbing the two halves of the shell and tossing them across the kitchen into the bin, all while his other hand was whisking the eggs and flour and sugar together.

He poured the batter into little cupcake trays and shoved it into the oven before turning to the camera in the kitchen and pointing his whisk at it.

“Can you do that?” James yelled at the camera. He was sure that even though the camera didn’t capture sound, Aaron was able to read his lips.

James felt an unfamiliar smirk lift at his lips as he turned back and rummaged through the cupboard to find ingredients to make icing. Ha. That’ll show Aaron he was more capable than him even when he was not doing serious hunter duties.

The cupcakes were cooled and frosted five minutes before Thomas was due home. James sat down at the dining table and grinned at his work; tempted to taste one, but demonstrating self-control under Aaron’s watch.

Right on time, Thomas opened the front door. James stood up and picked up his batch of cupcakes, bringing it into the living room.

Thomas was taking his lab coat off when James emerged from the kitchen. Thomas beamed at the cupcakes James placed down on the coffee table but focused his attention back on James, walking towards him and tossing his lab coat onto the sofa.

“Look at you, finally wearing proper clothes,” Thomas smiled, wrapping James in a hug from behind, burying his face into the woolen sweater. “Comfy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I took a break today,” James said, tilting his head to the side so Thomas could kiss his neck, “It felt nice. And you’re home safe.”

“I’m safe,” Thomas agreed, then released James and stepped back, gesturing at the cupcakes on the table. “Are they full of protein?”

“Nope,” James grinned, “they’re full of sugar.”

“Is this a punishment or a reward?” Thomas asked cautiously, “Are we eating it before or after today’s training session?”

“There will be no training session today,” James took the nunchucks out of the back pouch Thomas hung on his belt. He ran his finger over the engraving of Thomas’ name on the handle before tossing the nunchucks on the sofa. “Today, we’re taking a real break. No hunting work.”

“What’s with the sudden change in attitude?” Thomas asked, placing a hand on James’ forehead worriedly.

James laughed, wrapping his arms around Thomas’ waist and pulling him close. James lifted a hand and combed Thomas’ curls behind his ear. Thomas took the hint, noticing that James’ only source of contact with the hunters was gone.

“You’ve had it with Aaron yelling in your ear all the time?” Thomas chuckled.

“Aaron’s getting on my nerves,” James complained, “He acts as though he’s the boss of me, just because I’m not the leader anymore.”

“He is your elder brother,” Thomas reminded him gently, “he’s just worried. He’s looking out for you.”

“Well, I don’t need him to tell me what to do all the time,” James looked down, bouncing a finger against Thomas’ chest. “I can make my own decisions. Today, it’s just going to be you and me.”

“I have nothing against that idea,” Thomas smiled, scooping James up in his arms again and carrying him to the sofa. He lay James on his lap and picked up a cupcake from the coffee table. Thomas poked a finger into the icing and dabbed the icing onto James’ nose. James tried to grab Thomas’ finger with his teeth, only to have Thomas plop the entire cupcake into his open mouth.

“Good reflexes,” James praised between mouthfuls of cupcake.

“Good cupcakes,” Thomas bent down and kissed James’ forehead, then took another cupcake for himself and leaned back against the sofa to enjoy his rare treat.

\---------

James returned to regular hunter lifestyle the very next day, but instead of his bulletproof vest, he now wore the wooly sweaters over his hunter outfits, if only to piss Aaron off. He wore his bluetooth headset again, but sometimes switched it off so Aaron couldn’t contact him.

He made pastries on a regular basis. Sometimes he would make it at night when he and Thomas returned from the lab. Sometimes he made it in the morning for Thomas to bring to the lab, especially after days that Aaron tried to scold him for being too laid back.

“I didn’t know you were such a grudgy younger brother,” Thomas commented when James handed him yet another batch of cookies in the morning and informed Thomas that he wouldn’t be joining him at the lab today.

“Well, Aaron should really have more trust in me,” James snapped quickly.

“You’re right, Aaron’s such an annoying elder brother,” Thomas grinned, partly mocking him, partly encouraging him, taking a cookie out of the ziplock bag and munching on it.

James took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m being mean,” James sighed, turning away to wash the kitchen utensils, “I know Aaron’s trying to help, but it has been half a year since we left headquarters and nothing suspicious has ever happened to us. You’re safe with all the vampire traps in the lab and I just- I just really want to live a normal life, like a normal human being.”

“I know, honey,” Thomas murmured, sliding up next to him, leaning against the kitchen counter and kissing James’ cheek. “And a normal life you shall have. Tell me, when do you want to visit the food museum?”

“You mean the one where they give out free mac and cheese on wednesdays?” James smiled.

“I can’t believe you’ve never tried the greatest delicacy in the world!” Thomas exclaimed, making James’ smile widen.

“Well, today has already been established as a lazy day, and today happens to be a wednesday,” James noted.

“Today it is,” Thomas kissed James’ cheek again and walked across the kitchen, rattling his cookies in the bag. He paused at the entrance of the kitchen. “See you after work? At the entrance of the museum?”

“Don’t be late!” James chided, turning around to face him. “You’re always working those late nights now!”

“I have one year’s work to catch up on!” Thomas said, then laughed. “I promise. Not tonight. I’ll be there on time!”

“I love you!” James shouted after him. James’ heart thumped in his chest when he realised his rare vocal expression of love.

James only heard silence in response. Thomas must have already left the house before he yelled the words. James shrugged and returned to washing the kitchen utensils, then screamed when hands plopped on his shoulders from behind.

Thomas spun him around and pulled him into a passionate kiss, one that James wished could last forever. Thomas must have noticed how rare it was for James to utter those three words as well.

“I love you too,” Thomas rumbled when they finally broke apart, breathless, staring deep into James’ eyes.

Joy. Happiness. Contentment. Fulfilment. Love.

James leaned in for another kiss and Thomas obliged him.

“I really have to go now,” Thomas finally laughed, “I’m going to be late for work.”

James pouted.

“Don’t- James, you know I hate seeing you unhappy,” Thomas kissed him a last time, “Tonight. I promise. I won’t be late.”

“Have a good day at work,” James smiled.

“I will, thinking of you,” Thomas assured, then grabbed his bag of cookies from where he had left it on the dining table and hurried out of the house.

\----------

Thomas was late.

James had brought a book to read- he had never indulged in reading when he was a hunter and was now catching up on those lost years- and he hadn’t even realised Thomas was late until he finished the book an hour after they were supposed to meet.

James frowned, pulling his phone out.

**20:02 To Thomas: where r u**

**20:05 To Thomas: i’m by the entrance**

**20:06 To Thomas: it’s been an hour tom**

**20:10 To Thomas: is our museum date still on**

**20:15 To Thomas: no more cookies for u**

James sat at a bench near the entrance of the museum, gripping his phone tightly. He dialed Thomas’ number.

_“Hey, this is Thomas Jefferson. Leave a message!”_

“Call me back, Thomas. I won’t be mad if something cropped up. Just let me know. I’m going to the lab to find you,” James said, then hung up and stood up and walked in the direction of Thomas’ lab across town.

It wasn’t like Thomas to treat their plans so lightly. The one time Thomas had been two minutes late for their movie date, he had arrived at the theatres with flowers and apologised profusely. He proceeded to buy way too many snacks for them to bring into the cinema. He allowed James to whisper about the unrealistic fighting scenes throughout the movie, and then hushed a stranger who complained that James was spoiling the show for the rest of them.

Thomas was a gentleman. He wouldn’t cancel on James or ignore James’ texts and calls for no reason.

James’ gut feeling told him that something was wrong.

James forced a smile on his face as he entered the building where Thomas worked at. He didn’t even have to say anything; when Thomas’ co-workers saw him, they started yelling information at him from their various spots in the lab.

“James! Are you looking for Thomas? He left like forever ago!”

“Dropped everything he was doing, literally, and left the building at six!”

“Tell him he owes me 50 bucks for breaking my burette!”

“Thomas left at six?” James asked, eyebrows furrowed. His stomach did uncomfortable flips.

“Yeah! All he could talk about today was your museum date. Said he was going to grab you dinner because he was sure you’d forget to eat.”

“Thanks, guys,” James said and left the lab.

James decided to trace Thomas’ possible steps to the museum. If Thomas had grabbed dinner, he would have exited by the back door of the building because it cut across streets directly to Thomas’ favourite takeaway place.

James pushed open the back door.

The handle of a wooden nunchucks, presumably attached to the door, came swinging in his direction. James ducked and grabbed the handle to stop it from swinging back, then released it again when his hand touched something sticky.

The nunchucks fell to the ground, rolling away from James, the name engraved into the handle glinting in the streetlight.

_T. JEFFERSON_

James’ knees went weak.

He leaned against the doorframe, using his bloody hand to support himself up as his other hand fumbled to turn on his bluetooth headset. Aaron’s relentless calls finally rang through and James answered it.

“JAMES!” Aaron immediately screeched in his ear. “Stop hanging up on me and switching your headset off! This is important business-”

“Thomas is gone,” James whispered, his voice trembling. He sank to his knees in front of the nunchucks, looking down at his sticky, bloody hand. “The vampires took him.”

“I told you the danger wasn’t over! I told you the vampires were still looking for Thomas! I told you-”

“Fuck you, Aaron,” James snarled, lifting his hand to his nose and sniffing the blood. It was vampire blood, not Thomas’ human blood. James felt a momental pang of relief.

“I’m sorry, I’m not helping,” Aaron noted, and James heard heavy typing on his end. “Tell me what you know.”

“Thomas left work at six,” James began, his voice strangled. The tears welling up in his eyes blurred his vision. “He exited by the back door of the building and must have been ambushed. He took out his nunchucks and hit one of the vampires but there must have been too many for him to take on alone. They probably knocked him out and took him with them. I’m guessing that they drove him off in a van or some vehicle and took him to god knows where.”

“The castle, probably,” Aaron spoke distractedly, hands busy typing, “If they’re still fixated on making him their Prince, they would bring him directly to the castle now, since their last attempt to hide him in the woods was foiled by you.”

“The castle,” James whispered.

“Yeah, the one across the country that takes two days to reach by car. If they’re going to drive him there, they’d begin his transformation inside the vehicle.”

“I have to save him,” James said, something in his mind clicking with urgency. James pushed himself to his feet, only to stumble and fall again, his legs shaky beneath him.

“What?!” Aaron squeaked in his ear. “James, don’t do anything rash! Wait a day, I’ll send you backup. I’ll send you a car. Or an airplane. I’ll talk to the authorities. Don’t run off on your own! You know how well guarded their castle is!”

“I have to save Thomas,” James repeated and with a swift hand movement, hung up the call and turned his headset off. James clenched his fists and pushed himself to his feet, using the walls of the buildings for support as he stumbled back home.

He knew Thomas wouldn’t have ditched him without a proper reason.

James just wished this wasn’t the reason.

\---------

James had a car- in fact, Thomas had multiple cars for him to choose from. James loaded his chosen car with all the canned food he could find in the house. He took a couple kitchen knives and shoved them into the glove compartment.

James dressed in his hunter clothes and wore his bullet-proof vest. He slung his rifle across his chest and began the long drive across the country.

In hindsight, Aaron was right again.

James tried, but he couldn’t drive continuously for two days. He could eat snacks while he drove with one hand but he found himself dozing off at the wheel. James realised he actually needed to sleep and thus found a way around it: he would speed while he was on the road and then pull over and collapse for a couple hours before repeating the cycle again.

Was it dangerous for his health? Was it dangerous to his life? Maybe, but Thomas was closer to death than he was. In fact, assuming the vampires had hooked Thomas up with vampire blood in the vehicle, the Thomas that James knew was already dying and being replaced by a monster.

A monster wearing Thomas’ face that James would have to kill.

James tasted blood in his mouth and stopped chewing on his lower lip. This was not a good time to blame himself for all the mistakes he had ever made. It was not a good time to feel weak or helpless. Thomas needed him to be strong. He had to be strong for Thomas. He had to save Thomas.

It took James a week to reach the castle. James partially expected the elite hunters to be waiting for him at the entrance of the castle, but no other hunter had arrived. James was sure Aaron knew how his mind worked after years of working as his right hand man, but he didn’t know how Aaron’s mind worked. What was Aaron waiting for? Why hadn’t he sent back up?

No matter, he was here and he had to work with what he had.

The vampire castle was located at the edge of the forest, beyond the trees and in the plains away from civilisation. It was old, a typical medieval-styled castle, though James wouldn’t be surprised if the interior of the castle was modern and up to date. After all, the vampire guards patrolling the castle were sporting the latest model of guns and had on old-fashioned but reinforced body armour.

James watched the patrolling guards from atop a tree. They were following pretty standard surveillance rounds outside the castle; it was the same surveillance method the hunters used around their headquarters. Good thing James had been part of the community that set up the hunters’ defense system and knew the one flaw that existed in this thorough surveillance method.

Lingering attention spans.

No human (or vampire, probably) could focus on their surveillance job every second, especially if they weren’t expecting anyone to attack. Lingering attention spans included daydreaming or staring at one spot for too long, and typically lasted around two minutes on average.

Long enough for James to notice, aim and snipe the vampire guards’ head off.

Once the vampires patrolling the front of the castle were down, James slid off the tree and hurried towards the castle, his rifle rattling against his back. He climbed to the top of the gates and sat there for a moment, shooting down the vampire guards patrolling the garden. Finally, he reloaded his rifle and slid down the gate, running towards the front doors of the castle. He used all his strength to shove the heavy doors open and slid in as soon as the gap was wide enough, then pressed himself against the back of the door, gasping for air.

James had never measured how strong vampires actually were. If the vampires opened the front doors manually and effortlessly, then they really had supernatural strength, because James was out of breath from that simple action.

“Hey!”

James jerked his head up and noticed that he was standing in a large lobby area. Beautifully decorated and very modern, as though he was in a fancy hotel. It was mostly empty though, emphasis on _mostly_. The only people in the room were James and patrolling vampire guards.

James swallowed another gasp of air, grabbed his rifle and began firing at the vampire guards, who returned fire.

James kept his back to the wall. The moment he turned his back on any guard, he would be grabbed from behind and stabbed. Any vampire, with their supernatural strength, could easily tear through his bulletproof vest with their bare hands.

The sound of fire quickly drew more vampire guards to the lobby, making James severely outnumbered. They began to surround him, closing in on him. It was even worse when James ran out of bullets. He used his rifle as a shield and the stake to stab vampires that approached, but he was no match for so many vampires.

It was just like that VR practise session. The session that he lost. The session that he ‘died’.

He couldn’t lose. He couldn’t die. Not now, not when he was in the castle and so close to saving Thomas.

“Hey!” came a sudden shout from a familiar voice that James was used to hearing every morning when he woke up. The same voice that sung him to sleep every night. The very voice that mumbled "I love you” between kisses everyday.

The voice was distorted. The warmth had turned cold. The brightness had turned sharp. The gentleness was not genuine; it was more like a predator trying to gather a prey’s trust before catching them off-guard and killing them.

The vampire guards stopped attacking James and made way for Thomas.

Thomas, with glowing red eyes and a smile that showed off his new fangs. Thomas, with a crown on his head and a glass of blood in his hand. Thomas, with a lack of emotions and a dangerous command of power.

“Thomas,” James whispered, his grip on his rifle loosening in devastation.

He was too late.

“Is that any way to treat my guest?” Thomas chided his guards, his cold gaze never leaving James.

“My apologies, your highness. We didn’t realise he was a guest. We saw a hunter and panicked- he opened fire at us-” the guard closest to Thomas began to accuse and blabber.

“Shut up,” Thomas told him, handing the guard his glass and walking towards James.

_Vampire._

“Don’t come any closer,” James snarled, hoisting his rifle up, pressing himself back against the wall. The vampire guards retaliated by raising their own weapons. “I’m not afraid to shoot!”

“James, honey, you’re out of bullets,” Thomas smiled, never faltering in his approach.

James hated the emotionless way Thomas spoke his name. He hated the pet name Thomas paired with his name. He hated the sarcastic drawl in his voice.

“I have a stake!” James raised his voice to hide the tremble within, stabbing the air in front of him. His stabs were weak and shaky because his arms were weak and shaky. “I’m not afraid to use it!”

“Really?” Thomas’ smile widened, finally standing still. He spread his arms wide. “Go on then, stab me. Throw your stake like a javelin and kill me.”

James hated it. He hated the situation he was in. Why didn’t he just kill Thomas that day they found him in the basement? Why did he allow himself to fall in love with Thomas? Why did he put himself in this situation?

James shook his head, tears blurring his vision. He lowered his weapon. He couldn’t do it. “You’re not Thomas,” James whispered, more to convince himself than to Thomas. This was a monster wearing Thomas’ face. He had to kill him. He had to kill **it**. He _had_ to.

“You’re right, I’m not,” Thomas pointed at the crown on his head. “It’s _Prince_ Thomas now.”

“You’re not Thomas!” James screamed in desperation, hurling his rifle-stake at Thomas. Maybe it was because James’ aim was off, or because of Thomas’ supernatural agility, but Thomas dodged the stake effortlessly. James’ rifle fell on the floor and a vampire guard picked it up and broke it over its knee. “You’re a monster!”

“Oh Jemmy,” Thomas murmured, raising a cold hand to cup James’ cheek. James shook with sobs, sinking to his knees. Thomas knelt with him, cold fingers rubbing his cheek gently, back and forth. James wanted to bury his head into Thomas’ chest. He wanted Thomas to hug him and tell him everything was alright. “James, you know I hate seeing you unhappy.”

“Thomas,” James choked out, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what, honey?” Thomas sounded honestly confused and oblivious to why James was so upset. Thomas patted his cheek. “Look at me.”

James looked up at Thomas, into his glowing red eyes; emotionless, cold, calculative. He shook with another bout of tears. Thomas’ gaze burned like lasers into his own pupils and James realised that Thomas was attempting to enthrall him.

Thomas blinked when James didn’t react to whatever enchantment he was trying to put on him, then laughed softly.

“I forgot that you’re immune to our enchantment,” Thomas smiled, wiping James’ tears away with a finger.

_Our._

“I guess I’ll have to do something a little more extreme,” Thomas said, his hand sliding down James’ cheek to his neck and nudging his head to one side.

“You’re not going to drink my blood,” James snapped and raised a hand to push Thomas away. Thomas caught his hand and interlocked their fingers, pulling James nearer.

Thomas kept the smile on his face and James hated it. It was a predatory smile. A cheshire cat smile. It was a warning of danger.

“We no longer drink from necks, James,” Thomas assured, wrinkling his nose at the thought of that, “We never ever drain an entire human in one feeding and a vampire’s bite just makes humans so clingy. So needy. It makes them addicted to our touch. No, we find it more efficient to kill, drain and preserve blood in blood bags now, so we no longer have to deal with overly-attached humans and we have an excess storage of blood for emergencies.”

“So are you going to kill me? For my blood?” James asked, his voice low.

Thomas laughed, high-pitched and sharp.

“No honey, why would I do that? I love you,” Thomas said, and James hated how there was no feeling behind the spoken words, no emotions, no _love_ , because Thomas- vampires- were incapable of love. “No, I want to make you mine.”

“What?”

Thomas leaned closer. “I want you to be clingy. To be needy. I want to enthrall you. I want to be your everything and I want you to be-”

James opened his mouth in a wordless, breathless gasp as Thomas tilted his head aside and sank his fangs into James’ neck.

There was an initial pain; sharp, like the stab of a knife. As soon as he felt it, the pain dispersed, fading away into numbness. Fading away like a haze at the back of his mind.

Thomas cradled his cheek again, his touch gentle, and James nuzzled his face into Thomas’ palm without much thought. Thomas smiled and James felt his own lips lift upwards in response. The last thing he saw was Thomas licking the stain of his blood off his fangs before the haze numbed his mind and James closed his eyes, falling into Thomas’ arms.

“ _Mine_.”

\---------

James woke up on a bed so soft, he practically melted into it.

His neck ached, as though he had stretched it for too long while he was asleep. James raised a hand to his neck and let out a soft gasp when his fingers brushed against the sensitive bump of a scarring vampire bite.

It was real. Everything had really happened.

James sat up in bed and looked around. He was on a four-poster bed in the middle of a large, well decorated room. Everything seemed expensive; silk curtains, glazed wooden furniture lined with gold, marble floors.

Thomas sat in front of the dressing table. He had his hands in his hair and his head bowed, as though he was deep in thought. A royal purple cape clasped around his neck shrouded his figure. His crown rested on a table cushion in front of him.

James clenched his fists so hard you could hear his knuckles crack in the quiet room.

Thomas’ head snapped up and he looked at James through the reflection of the mirror, then turned around on his cushioned stool to face him.

“James,” Thomas breathed.

James reacted immediately, in blind anger without thought, grabbing the nearest thing he could feel- the pillow- and throwing it at Thomas.

“James! Stop!”

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” James screeched.

James stood up and reached out for some ceramic ornament from the top of a cabinet. He hurled it at Thomas, who dodged easily with supernatural agility. The ornament smashed the dressing table mirror.

Thomas took quick strides towards James and grabbed his shoulders just as James screamed right in his face and smashed a miniature glass swan onto his head. Thomas didn’t even flinch, just blinked at James’ efforts.

“James!” Thomas shook him hard. “Look at me. Please. Just stop and look at me.”

“YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!” James shrieked, hands flailing over the top of the cabinet. All he could grab was air. In his fluster, he had already shoved everything to the ground, or used them all to hit Thomas.

“James!” Thomas yelled again.

“YOU’RE A MONSTER!” James cried, fingers scraping the well-polished wooden furniture in an attempt to form a splinter and use it as a weapon.

“I’m sorry, James,” Thomas muttered, and James gasped as Thomas’ hand flew and his cheek stung with sudden pain.

James stood still, stunned into silence, raising a hand to his cheek.

Thomas closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to James’.

Passion. Love. Desperation.

Thomas released James and stepped back, breathing heavily. A genuinely warm grin settled at his lips. James looked up at Thomas properly for the first time, noticing the crinkles at the corner of his eyes.

Red eyes that sparkled with the gathering tears of relief. Of joy. Of love.

“Impossible,” James muttered to himself, stumbling backwards and sitting at the edge of the bed. “I’m dreaming.”

Thomas sat next to him, taking his hand gently. His touch was warm; none of the coldness of a vampire. He slung his arm around James’ waist and pulled him closer. “Does this feel like a dream?” Thomas asked, leaning in for another kiss.

“How?” James breathed as soon as they separated, looking into Thomas’ emotional red eyes. Those red eyes sparked with excitement at James’ question.

“I’m immune too,” Thomas began. “I figured it out. That was why even though I was supposed to be a fully transformed vampire the first time you found me, you were still able to save me. My body never stops producing its own blood cells to counter the vampire blood cells, so there’s this endless battle in my body between being human and vampire. If I stop drinking blood for a few hours, the vampire blood cells grow weaker and my human blood cells gain dominance, giving me back my emotions even though physically, I’m still a vampire.”

“So like, a vampire with emotions,” James rephrased.

“That’s right,” Thomas lit up with the enthusiasm of a scientist. “Do you know what this means, Jemmy? If we can figure out what exactly is going on in my body, we can make a serum for vampires, an immunity, a cure. We can give vampires back their humanity. Vampires can become another species of humans!”

“But what about your need for blood?” James began. Thomas grinned and opened his mouth to offer a solution but was interrupted by someone knocking the door and entering the room. Thomas turned around to face the intruder, then sighed and stood up.

“Your highness,” the vampire butler greeted with a bow, extending a tray with a glass of blood. “Her majesty wishes to see you.”

“There’s a queen?!” James shook his head. “How come the hunters never knew that?! We thought there hasn’t been a royal for- for a long time, and that was why vampire attacks were on the rise.”

“That’s not why vampires have been attacking more humans,” Thomas explained, placing the crown on his head, “She’s new to the throne- only a few years old- and she is planning quiet world domination. She’s taking immune humans and building an army. If things go her way, the hunters won’t know what hit them.”

“Are you part of that army?” James lowered his voice. “Is that why you’re the Prince?”

Thomas picked up the glass of blood from the tray. “I am,” Thomas said quietly, “I’m part of the new breed of supervampires.”

“Supervampires?!”

“Immune humans turned to vampires,” Thomas said, “She believes that our immunity makes us stronger as vampires. That our immunity could even manifest into additional powers as vampires.”

“Your highness,” the butler cleared his throat.

Thomas looked at the butler, then down at his glass of blood. His hand trembled ever so slightly as he brought the glass to his lips, then took a deep breath and downed the glass in one large gulp. He slammed the empty glass back down on the tray and squeezed his eyes shut with a sharp wince.

“Thomas?” James called out in worry, taking a step towards him.

Thomas’ hand shot up with his palm facing James, fingers outstretched; a stop sign, a ‘do not come any closer’ sign. Those fingers then curled into a trembling fist as Thomas tensed and his breathing grew heavier and more laboured, as though he was in pain.

Everything happened in the span of a minute, but it was long enough for James’ own heart to clench with the pain Thomas felt. Thomas eventually dropped his arm back to his side as his breathing evened out, fingers loosening, muscles relaxing.

Thomas’ demeanour- the way he held himself- shifted significantly enough that James no longer recognised the man before him.

The Prince, now that James could observe him thoroughly without being in a life-or-death situation, stood firm with an air of superiority. He knew who he was, what he was and how much power he welded. Calm powerful and dangerous, he was a force to be reckoned with.

“Thomas?” James whispered again.

Thomas opened his eyes and his cold, emotionless gaze immediately fell onto James.

Recognition remained in his eyes, but the base instinct of hunger instantly swallowed any form of cordial interaction Thomas might have wished to offer. Thomas’ lips lifted with an icy smile, fangs extended to their full length in a show of predatory dominance.

Thomas was about to pounce when a thought seemed to strike him; a mental reminder of sorts. He clenched his fist and inhaled deeply, a sign of control over his animalistic instincts. His smile softened and seemed less sinister.

Thomas raised a finger and beckoned James closer. James hesitated, and Thomas bristled with irritation at James’ lack of compliance.

James had a mind to find something to smack him over the head with, but he too had to remind himself that this was still Thomas.

Thomas beckoned again, impatient, and James finally stepped up to him. Thomas took his hand, pleased, and James shivered at his cold, tight grip.

“We meet again, James,” Thomas greeted, bringing James’ hand to his lips and kissing the back of his hand. There was nothing gentlemanly about his actions; it was forced, an attempt at being civilised, almost a mockery, a reminder that James was at his mercy.

James hated the way Vampire Thomas was a mirror image of Thomas, yet at the same time, miles apart.

“Your highness,” the butler said once again, bowing slightly, as though sending him a message with the repetition of those words.

“Come,” Thomas commanded, still holding James’ hand. He flourished out of the room, grand purple cape sweeping the floor behind him, pulling James along.

James was led past training rooms, an armoury and even a room full of technological gadgets that could be for spying or killing. There was a feeding room for the guards that looked more like a cafe; the guards sipped blood from blood bags or had them flavoured in a glass. They ate apples and cherries and strawberries that James was sure were just bite-sized blood bombs.

He quickly committed the castle layout to memory. If he was to somehow send an SOS signal to the hunters, he would attach a map for them. After all, it was up to Aaron and the hunters to save both of them now.

Thomas turned into another corridor and James realised that they were approaching a central room. The throne room. Where the Queen was waiting for them.

“Your Majesty,” Thomas greeted as he entered and bowed, releasing James’ hand and sauntering long strides across the room. He took his place beside her, on his own throne.

“Thomas,” The Queen greeted with a sort of fondness, a kind of pleased tone in her soft voice. Pride for her protege, or the first supervampire of her army.

James stopped at the entrance, his mouth hanging open as he saw who the Queen was.

“Theodosia,” James whispered to himself.

“Have a drink,” Theodosia’s attention was still on Thomas, gesturing at a butler who offered Thomas another glass of blood. Thomas took the glass and relaxed back in his throne, swirling his drink, taking his time to savour it. She then turned her attention to James. “James!” Theodosia smiled, the same cold smile that Thomas wore. Her eyes were sharp, calculating, looking at James as though she could gain something from him. She was dressed in an old-fashioned golden ball gown that matched her golden crown. “It’s been a while! How have you been?”

James shook his head. “You shouldn’t remember me. You shouldn’t remember your human life. Vampires don’t remember their human lives.” James stated, eyes darting to Thomas.

It hadn’t occurred to him till that moment that Thomas should not have recognised who he was.

“Oh, did Thomas not tell you about the new breed of vampires transformed from humans with an immunity to certain aspects of vampirism?” Theodosia smiled. “It’s still work in progress, but I have discovered that we all have one thing in common; we remember every detail of our human lives. It’s hazy for normal vampires, but crystal clear for us. It’s an advantage; we are not simply driven by instincts, but we are able to be more calculative in our decisions to, for example, attack a city, based on our human experiences of the place. We don’t hunt blindly anymore.”

“If Thomas didn’t have his human memories,” Theodosia eyed James, “you would be dead now. I don’t think Aaron would be very happy if that had happened.” Theodosia ended her speech with another cold smile.

“You have no right to say Aaron’s name,” James couldn’t stop himself from snapping. Thomas choked on his drink, surprised at his disrespect to the Queen. Theodosia, however, seemed to find his outburst amusing, leaning back in her throne. “Aaron- _We_ thought you were dead! We mourned for your death! And here you sit on a throne, planning the death for all hunters, including Aaron! Don’t you care about him?!”

James’ voice raised into a shrill. Theodosia stood up, hands clasped behind her back as she made her way towards James.

“Aaron is nothing but a fond memory for me now,” Theodosia said in a light-hearted tone. “I do not care about him. I don’t feel love for him. If I ever come face to face with him, I might spare him based on the past we had together. I might keep him as a souvenir of my past, just like what Thomas did with you.”

James’ eyes darted towards Thomas, who sat still on his throne, his expression emotionless and unreadable.

“Speaking of Aaron, while we were dating, he often bragged about your little… immunity to a vampire’s enchantment,” Theodosia noted, stopping right in front of James. James stood still, glaring at her. Theodosia cocked her head slightly, examining James from head to toe. “We could use a supervampire who was an ex-hunter. You could tell us all the little ins and outs of the hunter headquarters.”

“I’ll never become a monster like you,” James snarled, taking a step back.

He bumped into something solid behind him and turned to see two bulky vampire guards blocking the exit, blocking his escape. They each placed a firm hand on his shoulder, holding him in place.

“It wasn’t an offer, James,” Theodosia smiled, using her index finger and thumb to pull James forward by his chin. James jerked forward with a gasp. “It was a command. You’re going to be the next member of my new army. If you’re more polite as a vampire than you have been as a human, I might even promote you to sit beside Thomas on the throne.”

“Actually,” Thomas cleared his throat, standing from his throne and placing his glass down on the armrest, “Aaron’s information may have been a little… incorrect.”

“What do you mean?” Theodosia turned back to Thomas.

“James isn’t immune,” Thomas laughed, heading towards them, “allow me to demonstrate, your majesty.”

Theodosia and the guards stepped away to allow Thomas some space. Thomas knelt before James, placing his hands on James’ shoulders, staring into his eyes. “Look at me,” Thomas muttered.

James didn’t know what Thomas was doing. Thomas knew that he was immune; he had tried to enchant James when they first met. Still, James played along and looked into Thomas’ burning red eyes.

Thomas kept eye contact, but his hands shifted inwards and his fingers danced inconspicuously along James’ collarbone.

“He’s not being enchanted,” Theodosia grumbled, impatient, crossing her arms.

“He’s a hunter. He’s trained a resistance against our enchantment, but he’s just like any other human,” Thomas fibbed as his fingers found the bumps on James’ neck. Thomas gave the bumps a sneaky press, and it was like a button had been pressed in his mind to release endorphins.

James relaxed against his own will, his head tilting sideways to rest on Thomas’ hand. The haze clouded his mind and it became harder to think. A silly little smile spread across his face, mimicking the high of being enchanted by a vampire.

Enthralled humans were basically zombies; they didn’t think for themselves, they followed the command of their vampires- their leaders- blindly, no matter where it may bring them.

“There we go,” Thomas declared, turning back to Theodosia, “James isn’t immune. Aaron exaggerated his resistance.”

“What a disappointment,” Theodosia lost interest immediately, walking back to her throne. “He’s not special. I really thought that we had hit the jackpot with him.”

“My apologies, my Queen,” Thomas bowed before her.

“It’s not your fault he isn’t immune,” Theodosia smiled, sitting down elegantly. “Maybe we can use him as bait instead, to draw the hunters here,” Theodosia continued thoughtfully. James could practically see the gears in her mind whirling as she began to restructure whatever plans she had for her army. “We’ll just have to do things the hard way. You can take James back to your room and reminisce your human past with him.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Thomas bowed again and took James’ hand, leading James out of the throne room and back to his own.

James’ trailed after him like an obedient puppy. He couldn’t help it; his body was reacting as though enthralled, and an enthralled human followed a vampire as though they were so lucky to have been chosen.

The butler had already left when they returned to Thomas’ room. Thomas lay back in bed and James jumped in next to him, curling into his side. Thomas chuckled and stretched an arm around James’ shoulders, pulling him closer as he rolled over in bed to face James.

James shivered as he lay against Thomas’ cold arm, a reminder that this was not the man he had fallen in love with. Similarly, Thomas did not seem to view James as a lover, if the way he had both his hands placed flat against the sides of James’ head was anything to go by.

A strong and fast twist of his head and James would be dead. James was a walking body of food to Thomas, his blood waiting to be drained and flavoured into delectable meals for the vampire community.

James couldn’t do anything to fight back, his mock-enthralled body relaxed and useless.

Thomas suddenly froze, eyes narrowing and lips curling into a momental snarl that James wasn’t sure was directed at him or Thomas himself. Thomas’ hands tensed against James’ head- the struggle of control- before Thomas released him and rolled back in bed, relaxed, having conquered his instincts.

“Aww, look at you, little hunter, all cuddly and defenseless because of my bite,” Thomas grinned, ignoring and not addressing what had just happened. He ran a hand through James’ short hair, tickling his scalp pleasantly. “Don’t worry, it’ll fade away soon.”

James pretended not to notice how Thomas had redirected the flow of conversation.

“You…” James struggled to speak, realising it was hard to speak with the haze in his mind. “You lied to…”

“I lied to the Queen,” Thomas helped him, then nodded. “Like she said, I remember everything. I remember your fear of becoming a vampire. I remember my promise to protect you from that fate.”

“Why… Theo...”

“Why is she so heartless and not a nice vampire like me, with my memories?” Thomas grinned, then sighed. “You have to understand that Theodosia is the first of the new breed of vampires. She was taught the old way of thinking, of survival- by relying on her instincts. When I awoke a vampire, I had her to guide me, learning how to value my human knowledge more than my vampiric instincts. But she functions the old vampire way; even though she may remember, she doesn’t feel anymore, so she doesn’t care.”

Thomas gazed down at James and smiled, lowering his hand to James’ neck and brushing his fingers over the bumps. “It’s different for me. I remember loving you. I remember how it feels like to be in love. I know that I have to answer to the me-with-feelings for anything I do to you. That keeps me caring. That’s why I continue to care about you. Still,” Thomas paused, glancing at James, “instincts are hard to ignore. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that I should care. If it had been anyone but you, I think I wouldn’t have cared. I would have killed them and had a feast. But you, you’re special.”

James couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled through his throat as a response to that. He blamed the mock-enchantment for that.

“Mmm,” Thomas hummed, red eyes glowing as he lowered himself and nosed James’ neck. “Very special,” Thomas muttered against his neck, and James shivered as fangs trailed the thin layer of skin that separated Thomas and his blood.

It was instantaneous. The moment Thomas’ fangs sank into the same spot, James melted in his arms. The haze exploded in his mind. He felt completely relaxed, completely trusting, completely safe. In all honesty, he could get used to this; life without worries, protected by his vampire.

James realised he was internalising the feeling of being enthralled.

“Mine,” Thomas growled, holding him close, licking the blood from his fangs.

“Do you…” James heard himself whimper. It felt important to him at that moment. He had to be assured that he was special to his vampire. “Do you lo…”

“Do I love you?” Thomas’ voice softened, the glow of his red eyes dimming, almost apologetic. “I don’t. I don’t love you, because vampires don’t love.”

James felt his heart drop and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the mock-enchantment or because he was actually upset about it.

“I’ll love you again in a few hours,” Thomas assured, “when my immunity kicks in, I’ll be able to love you again.”

“Aaron…” James swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to change the subject.

“Are you going to tell me about your hunter plans to escape?” Thomas grinned. “You better sleep off the false enchantment and I shall sleep off the blood, so you can tell me your plans when I’m more emotionally invested in them.”

“Okay,” James whispered, closing his eyes and allowing himself to drift into sleep with Thomas’ arm around him, keeping him safe and protected.

■■■■■■

“I’m not sure if I should be proud or upset,” James said, turning away from the mannequin to face Thomas.

“Why?” Thomas asked, hurling another knife at the mannequin across the room and stabbing it straight in the heart. The mannequin shook on its stand and the crown resting on its fake head trembled with the force.

Thomas had a training room in the castle reserved just for them to keep up with their daily training sessions (or just to keep James occupied, at James’ request).

“You’re finally on board with the idea of killing your enemies,” James gestured at the mannequin, “but only because you no longer feel compassion for others.”

Thomas turned to James and even though James had a week to get used to it, Thomas’ red eyes still startled him. _Vampire._ James took a step away from Thomas, instincts tensing his muscles in preparation for a fight, before his mind caught up with the truth of their new reality and he relaxed again. _Thomas._

“Isn’t that what you taught me?” Thomas grinned, fangs visible, turning back to the mannequin and tossing another knife at it. “I’m just really good at hiding my emotions now.”

“Hiding your emotions and not having emotions are two very different things, Thomas,” James said quietly, turning back to his own mannequin.

Vampire Thomas’ lack of compassion was just one of the many factors that caused him to act differently from the man James loved. It was still Thomas, but with different driving motivations, his subsequent actions were as different as chalk and cheese.

Thomas opened his mouth to retort when the vampire butler entered the room, interrupting their time together once again.

“Your highness,” the vampire butler greeted, holding another glass of blood on a tray. The butler always presented Thomas with a glass of blood to ensure that he was an emotionless vampire before ushering him away to whatever called for his attention. Thomas didn’t need it this time- he was still emotionless from lunch a couple hours ago- but James supposed Thomas would enjoy the snack.

“Looks like it’s time to do my princely duties again,” Thomas placed his knives down on the ground and walked across the room to take his crown back from the mannequin. Thomas wore it and James put his knives down as Thomas approached him.

“Bye, honey,” Thomas said, wrapping an arm around James’ waist and pulling him into a kiss.

The kiss was forced. It felt like an obligation, like Thomas had to do so before he left. James didn’t like it. Vampire Thomas’ lack of love was another stinging differentiation, another reminder of what James had lost when he failed to prevent Thomas’ transformation.

When they pulled away, Thomas smiled at James. “I’m sorry,” he apologised, without any feelings of remorse behind his words. “It’ll feel better when I have my emotions again, I promise,” Thomas said. He received the glass of blood from the butler and cast an eye at James as he took a sip and followed the butler out of the room.

James hurled the knife in his hand at the mannequin and sat down on the ground, burying his face in his hands.

He had never realised how influential emotions were in the decisions that they made. Observing the difference in Thomas made him realise the degree of separation between humans and monsters. It also made him realise how much Thomas’ serum would change the status quo for humans and vampires alike. Maybe one day, they could really co-exist in harmony.

Thomas had explained everything to him when they were in the laboratory of the castle. Thomas only went into the lab when he was in full control of himself, when he was emotionally invested in the experiments that he did for the improvement of both vampire and human lives.

“They would struggle with emotions, struggle to feel,” Thomas told him, “more than the vampire version of myself already struggle with the memory of emotions. Predatory instincts are inbuilt into a vampire. With emotions, they might act more like animals than monsters, but nowhere near being a human. This is only assuming the best case scenario; that the vampire is actively fighting to retain its emotions- in reality, most vampires would not bother with the struggle of keeping their emotions and humanity because they don’t have their memories and their instincts see no point in them.”

“They would need a reason to care,” James nodded, understanding.

“Yes,” Thomas agreed, “at least until we find a way to make the immunity permanent in other vampires instead of merely introducing it to the body as temporary serums.”

“You’ll find a way,” James assured. Thomas looked down at him and smiled, then leaned down to press a kiss to his lips.

This Thomas’ kiss was real. When Thomas had his emotions, his kisses were warm and soft and gentle. It was a kiss of true love.

“I will,” Thomas promised when they pulled apart.

“Your highness,” came a voice behind them and James groaned loudly.

“Does your name happen to be Aaron?” James turned around and snapped. Thomas’ accompanying chuckle warmed James’ heart.

The butler blinked at James, surprised at being addressed directly. He turned to Thomas for guidance and Thomas gestured his permission to respond to James’ question.

“My limited human memories say that yes, my name is Aaron,” the butler mumbled, unused to conversation.

“I knew it!” James threw his hands in the air, “All the Aarons of the world are cursed interrupters!”

Thomas pulled him in for another kiss before heading towards Aaron the butler and taking his glass of blood.

James looked away. He missed Aaron. Where was the rescue team? Why hadn’t they sought out him and Thomas yet? Were they considered lost causes, being captive in the vampire’s most guarded fortress? What was Aaron waiting for?

James looked up after a while, when Thomas’ transformation back into an emotionless vampire was complete but he remained silent.

Thomas’ piercing red eyes stared into his soul. Vampire Thomas sometimes did that; sometimes stood there and stared at James, the struggle between instinct and memory that Thomas himself had just talked about moments ago. A clench of his fist digging nails into his skin and Thomas successfully controlled his predatory instinct to pounce.

“You miss Aaron,” Thomas finally spoke up, his voice as indifferent as ever.

“You wouldn’t understand,” James ended the conversation with a wave of his hand. This Thomas didn’t have the emotional capacity to sympathise with him.

“I’m here if you need to talk,” Thomas offered.

“I don’t,” James dismissed.

“Vampires like you are going to struggle horribly with capturing emotions if you’re not even comfortable expressing them as a human,” Thomas remarked.

“Good thing I’m never going to be a vampire, then,” James shot back.

Thomas raised his arms in surrender. “I was just trying to get you to loosen up and talk to me, but I guess I could care less,” Thomas smiled, pointing at his emotionless red eyes.

“This is not about me, this is about your lack of sympathy. You wouldn’t be able to sympathise with me,” James snapped.

“I would still make a good listening ear,” Thomas shrugged. Either he was being irritably and unhelpfully distant, or his emotionless self could not recognise James’ anger. James was leaning towards the second reason. Another division between _his_ Thomas and this Thomas. “But sure, whatever floats your boat. Don’t get killed by a vampire when I’m not here to protect you.”

Now he was just being mean. Other vampires didn’t have the urge to attack James because Thomas’ bite marked James as his and no one would dare to challenge their Prince’s claim. James was in no danger of death while Thomas was away.

“I’m a hunter! You should be afraid of me!” James threatened, raising his voice.

“Afraid?” Thomas bared his fangs in a display of dominance, red eyes flashing, “Vampires don’t feel fear. We don’t feel anything. We are free from emotional restraints. We are _superior to you_ -”

Thomas stopped himself, closing his eyes momentarily and taking a deep breath before opening them again.

“Sorry,” Thomas withdrew his fangs, “I forgot to remember to feel. I let my instincts get the better of me. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” James muttered. “I understand your struggle.”

James had to credit Vampire Thomas for trying. He was trying to understand the memory of emotions he no longer felt and respond to them as though he did. That had to be hard. At the core of everything, James could blame the predatory instincts for the way Thomas acted, but this was still Thomas. This was still the man James loved.

“Are you trying to sympathise with me now?” Thomas cracked a smile, then nodded his appreciation towards James’ tolerance and followed the butler out of the lab.

James couldn’t help the little smile that graced his own lips at Thomas’ attempt to lighten the mood. The stress of everything was really getting to him. He could be more professional than this. He could remind himself that his actions should be driven by his mind, not his heart. That was what being a leader was all about. Rationality.

James rubbed his face with both hands and stepped out of the lab to stroll around the castle. His map wasn’t complete yet. Aaron was being a rational decision maker by not rushing into the castle. If James wanted to be saved, he’d send Aaron the map as soon as possible.

\----------

James was trying to draw his map but the small bumps on his neck, the raised scars of Thomas’ bite, was distracting.

The scars were itchy but scratching around them didn’t provide the relief he needed. James pressed down on them in the hopes that applying pressure would be the solution but the bumps only bounced back with more force, itching more with every second that passed.

We have to kill Theodosia,” Thomas burst into the room and exclaimed.

James looked up from his almost-complete map and through the dressing table mirror into Thomas’ furious red eyes.

“Are you sure you’re immune to vampirism and not just a late bloomer?” James teased, continuously scratching around his scars viciously.

Thomas was too distracted to notice. “Okay, that sounded a little reckless, a little heartless,” Thomas admitted. He slammed the door shut and pulled his crown off, tossing it onto the dressing table, clattering over James’ map. “But I’ve been thinking, that’s the only way I can gain veto power and make some good changes in the vampire community while I’m here.”

“Why do you care?” James placed the pencil down and turned around on the cushioned stool to face Thomas.

“I’m still their Prince,” Thomas straightened as he began to pace the room, eyes on the ground, “I have a responsibility to make their lives better while keeping my own goals of human-vampire harmony in mind. My first idea was to declare a law that banned human blood, but Theodosia said no! There are literally zero negative consequences but she said no and I can’t do anything about it because she’s the Queen and her word is law-”

“Is… there an alternative?” James interrupted.

Thomas stopped pacing to grin at James. “Animal blood has always contained the same nutrients as human blood. The only reason why vampires started drinking human blood is because it was more accessible; you know, vampires being a humanoid figure and everything. Easier to charm, easier to drink, easier to clean up.

“If the serum ever works, we can’t have vampires drinking from humans if they’re supposed to live harmoniously. We need a different source of food. I’m sure we can set up some sort of agreement with farms; animals killed for their meat to feed humans can also sustain us with their drained blood. Two for one deal. Win-win for both humans and vampires.”

“That sounds good,” James nodded, still scratching. “So why did she say no?”

“She doesn’t care!” Thomas leaned against the wall, folded his arms and huffed. “She doesn’t care about the wellbeing of humans. She doesn’t care about the relationship between vampires and humans. All she cares about is vampiric domination and ruling the world.”

“Alright, so maybe we can do something behind her back-”

“By the way, she was talking about infiltrating hunters’ headquarters anyway. She wants me to ‘enthrall’ you,” Thomas unfolded his arms to airquote, “and have you tell us everything anyway. She wants her army of supervampires to include some hunters; can you imagine how dangerous they’d be as vampires with their existing hunter abilities?”

James shuddered at the thought of his hunter friends as vampires, as monsters. He jumped in his seat as Thomas punched the wall and the wall crumpled beneath his fist.

“I can’t believe she still wants to make use of you!” Thomas began to pace again, “I can’t believe she’s not going to let you go even after I pulled off that lie about you not being immune in front of her. I can’t believe she’s not even sparing a thought for me as her Prince and how I should feel about her making use of you!”

“Thomas-” James started.

“I can’t believe she’s not sparing a thought for _you_! Just because you’re human, she thinks that it’s fine to just… make use of you?! I’m going to kill her. I’m going to kill her, James-”

“Thomas!” James stood up and shouted, reaching his free hand out to grab Thomas by his arm. Thomas stopped mid-sentence, breathing heavily. James nudged the stool towards him, gesturing at it. “Sit down, you’re getting agitated.”

Thomas took a composing breath as he plopped down on the cushioned stool. “Sorry,” Thomas sighed, “You’re right. There’s no point getting all emotional over it.”

“We just have to come up with a proper plan,” James smiled and Thomas looked at him properly for the first time since entering the room. His eyes fell onto the red patch of skin on James’ neck and the way James was still scratching at it. Sudden alarm flared in his eyes, his priorities shifted from his princely troubles to James immediately.

Thomas reached out and wrapped his fingers around James’ wrist, pulling his hand away from his neck gently. He tugged James closer, then picked him up and sat him on his lap, an arm around James’ waist to hold him in place.

“Don’t scratch,” Thomas murmured, ghosting his own finger over the red area. James shivered at the tingling sensation that replaced the itch where Thomas touched his neck.

“It’s itchy,” James complained.

Thomas hummed in response, bouncing a finger over the sensitive red area. James gasped, tilting his head back at the sparks of electricity that seemed to arc between Thomas’ finger and his skin. James turned scarlet at the warmth that blossomed within him.

Thomas’ arm tightened around his waist; protective, possessive, as though he could sense James’ sudden needs. His breathing deepened, his red eyes glowed, and James could see the struggle within.

On one end, there were human emotions. Gentle love. Undeniable lust.

On the other end, there were basic instincts. The need to claim. The need for dominance.

“All my vampiric instincts are screaming that you’re mine, little hunter,” Thomas growled, his voice husky. Thomas was trembling beneath him, attempting to hold himself back, to exert restraint. James could feel the tip of Thomas’ fangs grazing his neck even as Thomas pressed gentle kisses across his collarbone. It only made James shiver with anticipation. “But… but I don’t want to do anything you don’t want to, James.”

James whined in response, pushing himself up against Thomas. He didn’t know why Thomas touching his scar was doing this to him, but James knew that he wanted Thomas’ fingers to roam beyond his neck. He wanted to feel more of Thomas beyond the layers of clothes. His mind already in a haze, James found his fingers unclasping Thomas’ stupid purple cape and pushing it off his shoulders.

“Can I bite you?” Thomas murmured, voice strained with control, fingering the raised scars on his neck.

“Please,” James whimpered, and that was all he needed to do to push Thomas over the edge, fangs extending and sinking into James’ neck.

_“Mine.”_

\----------

James smiled as Thomas brushed his fingers across his neck, this time avoiding the over-sensitized area of the bite. He pushed himself closer to Thomas, resting his head against Thomas’ bare chest, listening to the slow and content beat of his heart. Thomas kissed his forehead and wrapped his arms around James, enveloping him in warmth and love.

Maybe it was the afterhaze of love. Maybe it was the overload of endorphins caused the bite. Maybe it was a little bit of both, but Thomas was all James needed in life to be happy. Thomas was his safety, his comfort, his security. As long as they were together, anything was possible.

“I love you,” James whispered, tracing heart shapes over Thomas’ chest with a finger.

“I love you too,” Thomas smiled. “How do you feel?”

“Nice,” James sighed, content.

“Nice?” Thomas chuckled.

“You know I don’t- I don’t know how to- emotions are hard,” James grumbled softly.

“I know, honey,” Thomas kissed his forehead again, “I know. It was nice for me too.”

James nodded against his chest, closing his eyes.

“How’s your map for Aaron coming along?” Thomas asked, interrupting his drift to sleep. James opened his eyes.

“Okay, I guess,” James told him, voice thick with exhaustion, “I’m almost done.”

“The sooner we can send the hunters the map, the sooner we are rescued and the sooner we can go back to our old life,” Thomas encouraged gently.

“Do you think things will go back to normal?” James shifted in Thomas’ arms to gaze at him with wide questioning eyes.

“Probably,” Thomas smiled, “as long as I kill Theodosia. She is a threat to humanity.”

“Oh yeah, you were talking about how she wants to extort information from me?”

“She won’t,” Thomas promised, holding James closer and tilting his head back so his scar was visible. “I’m the only one that can control when you are mock-enthralled. I won’t let her make use of you.”

“You’re the only one that can make me feel good,” James giggled.

“Well, if you put it that way,” Thomas grinned, “I am, aren’t I?”

James only giggled again and closed his eyes, letting Thomas’ rhythmic heartbeat lull him to sleep.

■■■■■■■

“James.”

James lowered his arms, the nozzle of the rifle he held pointed to the ground. Thomas had demanded the vampires remake James’ rifle stake they had broken. The vampires had just presented James with his new rifle stake today and James was shooting rounds into targets and stabbing mannequins in delight.

“Come.” Thomas beckoned, standing at the door of the training room James was in. His expression was serious, red eyes dead and emotionless. His furrowed eyebrows, however, conveyed a sense of worry; the first signs of Thomas’ lunch wearing off. James slung his rifle over his back, following Thomas out of the room.

Three days had passed since James had sent the hunters his map of the castle using old-fashioned postal mail. The castle had many fancy technological devices but they did not have communication devices to limit information getting out to the hunters. Thomas’ phone had been taken away when he was kidnapped and James had left his phone in the car.

“The hunters are here,” Thomas spoke as they walked, “but the one who infiltrated the castle wasn’t as stealthy as you were. He was caught shooting at my patrolling guards outside the castle. They placed him in a cell. Luckily, the guards reported to me first instead of Theodosia.”

“Lucky,” James agreed.

“Theodosia would have extracted his knowledge of headquarters then killed him. I’m more merciful; I’m allowing you to meet him before I extract his knowledge and kill him,” Thomas said.

James turned to Thomas, horrified.

“I’m joking,” Thomas smirked, but with the emotionless deadpan in his eyes, James wasn’t sure if he was joking about his statement being a joke.

Thomas led James down to the basement where he hadn’t been since entering the castle. Fulfilling a castle stereotype, the basement was a dark dungeon used to house prisoners. Thomas led James to a decent cell that was spacious and lit with modern lights. The hunter inside was hunched over in the corner of the room and James had to squint to recognise him.

It was one of his elite hunters, Connor. Connor was an older hunter, near retiring age, but he had declared he would keep fighting until he collapsed honourably fighting their enemy. He didn’t seem to be hurt; he wasn’t chained up or cuffed down or anything. Instead, he was feasting on the leftovers of James’ last cupcake batch (since no one else in the castle ate actual food).

“Hey!” Thomas yelled, and Connor tensed at the emotionless element of Thomas’ voice. James watched with a small, amused smile as Connor reached behind his back to grab his hidden weapon before his expression fell at the reminder that he had been stripped of his weapons before he was locked up.

Connor looked up slowly from where he sat on the floor. His expression morphed into horror as he saw Vampire Thomas approaching, trying to avoid Thomas’ red eyes but unable to stop himself from staring at what Thomas had become.

“Thomas,” Connor began, raising a hand and pointing at him. “You’re a vampire.”

Thomas stopped outside the cell. He clasped his hands behind his back and wrinkled his nose up in disgust. “Pick them up; I’m not cleaning up after you. I’m a _Prince_ ,” Thomas sniffed, chin lifted at the crumbs littering the cell floor. James was quick to catch the twinkle in his eyes- Thomas was teasing. The way he couldn’t stop the corners of his lips from quirking upwards spoke of relief to see that Connor was unharmed.

Connor, unfortunately, was not as aware as James and took Thomas’ words at face value.

“The Vampire Prince. Of course,” Connor slumped back against the wall, shaking his head. “Aaron was so sure we had time to calculate our manner of infiltration… when we received James’ letter, Aaron was so sure you were both held hostage and not turned. We were wrong. We failed to save you in time.” Connor buried his face in his hands. “And James? Is he dead? A vampire?” Connor’s expression hardened. “No, James would rather die than be a vampire.”

“I’m fine, Connor,” James assured, stepping up beside Thomas.

Connor jerked his head up at the sound of his voice. “You’re okay,” he breathed in relief, standing up and approaching them cautiously. “They didn’t kill you?” Connor asked, before his eyes landed on the obvious vampiric hickey on James’ neck and he stumbled back in obvious horror.

“He bit you,” Connor said, his voice empty and hollow.

“Yeah,” James blushed, looking up at Thomas. Thomas smiled, genuinely happy, and took James’ hand. James returned the smile, leaning his head against Thomas’ arm.

“Oh, James,” the hunter shook his head slowly, sorrowfully, “I’m so sorry.”

James frowned. Sorry for what?

He opened his mouth to ask, but the conversation had moved on. Thomas released James and approached the cell door. He unlocked it, gesturing for Connor to exit the cell. Connor eyed him suspiciously.

“He’s on our side,” James assured Connor.

To prove his alliance, Thomas beckoned a vampire guard standing near the basement staircase over and took his weapon, tossing the guard’s pistol to Connor. He waved a hand at the guard, dismissing him, and the guard bowed before leaving.

“Don’t hurt my people,” Thomas warned.

“Fascinating,” Connor commented, examining the pistol to ensure that it was real and loaded. “A vampire that acts peacefully towards both sides. This could be the start of something new.”

James smiled. Thomas was going to change the world.

“Anyway,” Connor cocked his pistol and lowered his arms, focusing on his mission at hand, “We- the elite hunters- are here to save the both of you. I let myself be caught and brought in so I could smuggle you guys out.”

“I knew it!” James grinned, slapping his back. “My elite hunters would never be caught making rookie mistakes.”

Connor beamed and opened his mouth to respond, but Thomas held a hand up between them, interrupting their conversation.

“You mean Aaron and the hunters are out there right now, killing my guards?” Thomas asked. His expression had darkened, the authority of a Prince concerned for his subjects written all over his frown.

“Well, yeah, they are securing the outer compound for safe transport out of the castle,” Connor responded.

“I said don’t hurt my people!” Thomas snapped, turning on his heel and heading upstairs towards the front gates of the castle. As Thomas’ brisk walk became a jog, James and Connor glanced at each other and broke into a run, hot on Thomas’ heels.

Thomas burst through the large doors of the castle lobby with an effortless push, waving his arms over his head as he walked through the garden in an attempt to attract attention.

It was impossible to attract attention when he stood in the middle of gunfire between the entire fleet of hunters Aaron had brought with him and the entire castle of vampire guards that had been drawn to the gates to protect the castle.

Aaron sat at the top of the garden gates with some other elite hunters, reloading his revolvers. A hunter by Aaron’s right groaned as he was shot by one of the vampire guards and lost his balance, tumbling headfirst into certain death.

“Markus!” Aaron screeched, reaching out for the hunter and missing his grasp around the falling figure.

Thomas strided forward with vampiric speed and caught Markus in his arms, saving his life.

“Thomas!” Aaron exclaimed, his expression lighting up with the accomplishment of their mission. Thomas looked up and Aaron’s smile faltered. He hesitated, then hardened his expression and pointed a revolver in between Thomas’ red eyes.

“Stop!” James yelled, running forward and standing in front of Thomas, stretching his arms out. “Don’t shoot! He’s on our side!”

“Thomas is a vampire, James!” Aaron yelled back, finger resting on the trigger of his revolver as he set his jaw. “We have to kill him!”

“He’s immune!” James shouted, “He’s immune to vampirism! He’s a vampire with emotions! We can turn him back into a human at headquarters!”

“Call your hunters off!” Thomas demanded as he placed the injured hunter carefully on the ground. “Stop shooting my guards! They’re just doing their jobs!”

The tinge of anger boiling within Thomas’ voice was enough proof of the truth that James spoke. Aaron widen his eyes in disbelief. Thomas really did have his emotions; his humanity.

Aaron waved a ‘cease fire’ hand signal and gunfire gradually stopped. The hunters turned to Aaron and the vampire guards turned to Thomas for orders on what to do next. Aaron jumped off the gate and landed next to Thomas, examining him up close. He didn’t have James’ ability to read emotions in eyes, but even Aaron could see the trembling emotions in Thomas’ eyes rising to the surface as Thomas’ last meal was completely filtered out of his system.

“Thomas,” Aaron breathed, but that was all he could say before a single gunshot startled all of them. “I said stop-” Aaron whirled around to yell, words dying at his lips when he saw who was the one standing at the doors of the castle holding the smoking pistol of a fallen vampire guard in the air.

The Vampire Queen took a step forward, ravishing in her golden gown, sparkling in the dimming light of the sunset.

“My dear Theodosia,” Aaron whispered, numbed at the sight of her cold red eyes, his hands tightening around his revolvers.

“Aaron, she’s a vampire,” Thomas placed a hand on his shoulder, but Aaron shrugged him off and took a step forward.

“Aaron,” Theodosia smiled mechanically, without any real emotions behind her expression, “I’ve missed you.”

“Theo,” Aaron croaked out, his grip around his revolvers loosening. He took another step towards her, taking in all of her from head to toe. “Theo, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I couldn’t save you. I’ve failed you.”

“What are you apologising for?” Theodosia cocked her head in mock concern, the icy smile never leaving her lips, “Don’t apologise. You could join me. We could be like Thomas and James. We could be together.” Theodosia held her free hand out towards Aaron. Aaron hesitated. “We could be happy again,” Theodosia added.

That was all she needed to say to entice him. Aaron turned back to Thomas, a hopeful expression lighting up his usual grim look.

“She’s not immune to vampirism, Aaron,” Thomas grabbed his arm roughly, “She’s a normal, emotionless vampire.”

“She’s just like you, right? We can still save her, right?” Aaron asked.

James understood his struggle. It was the same struggle he faced when he saw Vampire Thomas the first time. Everything in his mind said that she was a vampire and that he had to kill her. Everything in his heart believed that she could still be saved, somehow. That she was still the same person he knew. The same person he loved.

“You know once a person has gone full vampire, they can never go back to being a human,” James said, sympathetic but factual. “You have to kill her.”

“No,” Aaron said, releasing his grip around his revolvers and and letting them fall to the ground. James bent down to pick up Aaron’s revolvers but Thomas stopped him.

This was Aaron’s battle. He had to be the one to take out the Vampire Queen.

Aaron took another step forward, unarmed. Theodosia’s smile widened and she cocked her pistol with one hand. It was in no way inconspicuous, but Aaron didn’t seem to have noticed, taking small steps towards his long lost lover. “She’s just like Thomas,” Aaron insisted, raising a hand towards Theodosia. “She remembers me. She still loves me, and I never stopped loving my dear Theodosia.”

“I do. I love you, Aaron,” Theodosia tried to entice him closer by mirroring his words. James had no doubt she would kill him and drain him the moment she had her hands on Aaron. “I love you so much.”

Aaron stopped. Those words were familiar to everyone who had once been in love, but the emotionless tone in which they were spoken in was so foreign it made every listening hunter react with a visible cringe.

“What’s wrong?” Theodosia asked carefully, keeping her tone gentle.

“You don’t love me,” Aaron whispered.

“Vampires don’t love,” James muttered under his breath, standing up with Aaron’s revolver in his hand, just loud enough for Aaron to hear and clench his trembling fists by his side.

“I’m different,” Theodosia said, “I’m just like Thomas, see?”

Aaron was wearing the standard protective shades over his eyes, but James had a feeling he was staring straight into Theodosia’s eyes from behind those shades.

Aaron shook his head slowly, taking steps back. “No,” he whispered. “You’re not like Thomas. You’re not my Theodosia.”

“Why do you trust them more than you trust me?” Theodosia snapped, smile twisting into a snarl, losing her patience.

“You don’t have your… emotions… in your eyes. Not like Thomas,” Aaron raised a hand to gesture at his own eyes to make his point. He straightened and tried to look stern again, but the sight of Vampire Theodosia was throwing him off his game.

“Join me, Aaron,” Theodosia tried a last time. “I could turn you. We could have an eternity together. I’m the Queen; you could be my King. We could rule the world, you and me.”

Aaron hesitated. He seemed to be genuinely considering that proposal.

“That’s not the woman you love, Aaron!” James couldn’t stop himself from yelling. He stepped forward and placed the revolver back into Aaron’s hand then gave him a tight, awakening slap across his face. He couldn’t believe Aaron was even considering becoming a monster. Aaron dropped his gaze to the ground, ashamed. “She’s a vampire! A monster! She doesn’t love you! She doesn’t feel! She isn’t human!”

Aaron turned back to Theodosia and raised his trembling revolver at her.

“I don’t want to do this,” Aaron whispered, voice thick with sorrow. “Please don’t make me do this.”

“People change,” Theodosia smiled, “but this-” she pointed at her heart- “this will never change.”

“You’re not Theodosia,” Aaron spoke, attempting to convince himself, swallowing his lingering emotions back down to allow logic and his training to guide him. “You just look like her.”

“Theodosia died two years ago,” Thomas said softly.

Theodosia’s expression finally shriveled and hardened into the cool, calculative expression of an emotionless vampire. She shot her pistol-

-but Aaron shot first.

Aaron gasped a shaky breath of air as the Vampire Queen collapsed to the ground, as dead as she had been in Aaron’s mind for two years.

Aaron dropped his revolver to the ground and clenched his fists. He turned to Thomas and James and looked at them with a sort of sadness and pain in his eyes that struck James as a hole in Aaron’s heart, impossible to cure.

“Come,” Aaron said, hiding his pain behind a trained frown, making a hand sign at the hunters to retreat, “Let’s go back to headquarters.”

Thomas waved his own hand in the air, commanding the staring vampire guards in the garden to open the gates for them. James picked up Aaron’s revolvers from the ground and followed Aaron out of castle grounds. He looked back to see Connor scoping an injured Markus into his arms and carrying him to the vehicles waiting for them.

James stopped when he noticed Thomas hanging back to talk to the vampire guards as they closed the gates.

“Prepare yourselves,” James heard Thomas tell them as he approached, “I will be back.”

“Your highness- Your majesty,” the guard corrected himself. With Theodosia dead, Thomas was now their King. “Will you become a hunter too and return to kill the rest of us?” a guard asked. James bit his lip as the guard’s cold, emotionless voice somehow expressed genuine worry and fear.

“No,” Thomas smiled, “I will be back to free you. All of you.”

It struck James at this point that Thomas now had his own personal agenda, his own set of beliefs. His time as Vampire Prince has made Thomas empathetic and determined to liberate the vampires from their lifestyle. With Theodosia out of his way now, he was determined to turn the vampire world into a non-violent world of peaceful harmony.

James would support Thomas in whatever he had decided his life goal to be. After all, Thomas’ goals were in line with his own goals of protecting humanity.

Thomas turned back to James and smiled, then slid an arm over his shoulders and led him back to the vehicle where the hunters were waiting for them, where Aaron was leaning against the van with his arms crossed and his guarded expression darkened.

There was so much work to do.

■■■■■■■

The doctors back at headquarters used the same reverse vampirism method they used the first time to turn Thomas back into a human.

Thomas brought in his own colleagues and partnered with the scientists at hunter headquarters to extract the immunity from his body. They were experimenting to make copies of it into a serum, allowing them to inject the immunity into other vampires and return them their emotions until the temporary serum was destroyed by vampire blood and the vampire needed another shot to retain their emotions.

James’ neck scar was properly treated with antiseptic and dressed with a gauze. The older doctors regarded him with a sort of pitiful look as they tended to James’ bite and James couldn’t understand why. He asked, but they only shook their heads and apologised sincerely to him. It only made him even more puzzled.

James placed himself back on the hunter diet and exercise regime, if only to gain a sense of familiarity after his wild experiences outside the hunter life and in the vampire castle. He took Aaron’s place in training the new hunters while Aaron was given time to properly mourn the death of Theodosia.

Thomas’ nightmares returned. It was always the falling nightmare, the one where he fell endlessly in a darkness consuming him. The one where there was nothing to see, to hear, nothing to do. Absolute emptiness as he fell.

He always jerked awake with an alarming scream, as though he finally found his voice in the void. James would wrap his arms around Thomas, muttering softly that it was just a dream. Thomas would place his hands on the bed, feeling solid material beneath him, before relaxing into James’ embrace.

“It wasn’t so bad when I was a vampire,” Thomas whispered, pulling his knees to his chest. “The void wasn’t so scary. It didn’t last so long. It was a fast drop. Now, it just goes on forever and I’m… I’m going to lose my mind.”

“I’ll always be here for you to hold, for you to feel,” James assured, rubbing a hand against Thomas’ shoulder, pushing himself against Thomas’ side. “I’ll be here to ground you.”

Thomas hummed in response, straightening his legs and turning to James. He cupped James’ cheeks with his right hand and James met his black eyes, dark with lingering thoughts of the void, yet warm with love as he gazed at James.

Thomas slid his hand down James’ cheek to his neck, over his collarbone and rested his hand on James’ shoulder. James tilted his head to the side, resting on Thomas’ hand, exposing the gauze the covered his healing scar.

“I’m sorry about that,” Thomas spoke softly, raising his other hand to gesture at the scar.

“I like it,” James smiled, shifting closer.

“Does it still itch? Does it hurt? Is it healing properly?” Thomas rattled off his questions one after another, worried. His hand hovered over the gauze, wanting to check but not wanting to inflame the wound or something.

James took Thomas’ hand and placed it on his gauze. He shivered a little at the tingling sensation his scar made in response to Thomas’ touch.

“It still itches,” James admitted, “below the healing surface. There’s an itch that I can’t get to, but it’s okay. You make it feel better.”

“Yeah?” Thomas smiled, placing a finger gingerly on the outline of the raised scar hidden by the gauze.

James’ mouth gaped open with a gasp of air, tightening his arms around Thomas.

“Feels nice?” Thomas teased, running his finger up and down James’ scar.

James responded by burying his face in Thomas’s chest, reveling in his warmth, sliding a leg in between Thomas’.

“I don’t think you’ll like what I’m about to ask you,” James said, pink dusting his cheeks as he looked up at Thomas.

Thomas chuckled, hoisting James up and onto his lap. He kissed James just above the gauze and James shivered in his arms.

“Tell me,” Thomas prompted.

“I…” James swallowed, “I really want you to bite me.”

“I’m not a vampire anymore,” Thomas teased. “I’ve enjoyed my few months of fruits and vegetables and meat. I don’t plan to go back on a diet of blood anytime soon. Though, I do plan to return to the castle when the serum is ready and maybe liberate the vampires-”

“I know,” James interrupted him, dark red heating up his dark expression. He was embarrassed now, tensing in Thomas’ arms as the thought seized him. “I’m just… I’ve been craving it.”

“Craving it? My bite?” Thomas frowned, stroking a finger against the scar absent-mindedly.

James huffed and shifted on Thomas’ lap. “Like, you have to go deeper. You have to bite me again. I want to be yours again.”

“You’re mine, James,” Thomas stopped touching the scar and raised his hand to comb through James’ short hair. “And I’m yours.”

James struggled for words. It was more than that. It was a deeper yearning, something gawing at the core of his being. It was something more bestial, more animalistic.

“You’ve marked me, Thomas,” James tried, raising his hand and ripping the gauze off so they could see his healing scar. “You have to remind me who I belong to. You have to-” James interrupted himself, grinding his teeth together and squeezing his eyes shut. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again, casting his gaze down to the ground. “I need the release,” James whispered.

“I’m- I’m sorry, James,” Thomas spoke, his voice hollow with the recognition of James’ desperation and the worry that blossomed through him. He didn’t know why James was feeling this way, and James was none the wiser. “I can’t. I don’t have the means to. I’m human now.”

“Okay,” James whispered again, sliding off from Thomas’ lap and turning over in bed. “Go back to sleep, Thomas.”

“Goodnight, Jemmy,” Thomas muttered softly, wrapping his arms around James so he was the little spoon.

James eventually drifted back into sleep, but the tension in his body would not leave him in peace.

\-----------

No matter what he did, James could not get his muscles to relax. He was always tensed up, always uncomfortably stiff. He stretched his muscles, cracked his joints, but the stiffness continued until his muscles began to burn beneath his skin.

His muscles ached. He was tired and stressed out and unable to think of anything other than Thomas and his touch. He craved it, like an addict experiencing withdrawal symptoms. James tried to focus on his daily, mundane tasks, but it was hard to focus on anything but curling up in a corner and being consumed by his pain.

The scar on his neck went from itchy to a burn to straight out pain. Everytime he turned his neck, the scar stretched and burned a phantom hole into his neck. He needed Thomas to stop the pain. He needed Thomas to bite him and release the tension in his body.

He became a useless wraith wasting his days trailing the hallways of the headquarters. Everyone knew that something was wrong, but they didn’t know what was wrong and they didn’t dare approach James to ask, fearing that his grimace of pain would twist into one of anger.

James stayed away from Thomas. The sight of him only made his pain worsen. He still loved Thomas, of course, and it wasn’t Thomas’ fault he was wrecked with unexplainable pain. James just wanted some space for his body to work out whatever toxic was causing the pain in his body and for it to go away. Thomas didn’t understand what was wrong, and he seemed disturbed that he wasn’t able to help James, but he respected James’ decision and stayed away, only giving him the occasional nod of support from across the hallway before disappearing into the lab again.

Thomas threw himself into his research. They were close to extracting the cure, finding the serum. Thomas actively kept in touch with the vampire guards from the castle, travelling all the way across the country at least once a week to draw new blood samples from the guards to test the experimental lab serum on. James overheard the scientists saying that the serum was almost safe enough to be tested on a live subject.

Aaron returned to Headquarters after his couple months mourning in Thomas’ house. He immediately noticed the permanent pain edged into James’ grimace, the way James crossed his arms stiffly, the way James leaned against the wall for support, the way James trembled ever so slightly.

“You’re sick,” Aaron concluded worriedly, approaching James along the corridor and placing a hand on his forehead.

James shook his head and raised a hand to point at his neck scar.

“It hurts,” he managed to scratch out in a dry, rough voice.

“It… looks like it healed nicely,” Aaron frowned.

James shook his head again. _Underneath_ , he wanted to explain. _Pain_ , he wanted to say, but speaking drained his energy.

“You have to go to the doctor,” Aaron told him, grabbing his arm and nudging him gently towards the direction of the hospital at headquarters.

James didn’t respond. He rested his raised hand on the scar and scratched at it with what little energy he still had. The tender tissue of the raised scar still tore and blood began to gather on the surface of his skin.

“Stop,” Aaron snatched his hand away and James had no energy left to resist. “I’m taking you to the doctor.”

James tried to shake his head again, but his eyelids were lowering. He was so tired. He was so weak. He was so helpless.

“James!” Aaron shouted.

James smiled in amusement at the way Aaron’s voice sounded like a low, slow growl to his ears, the way Aaron tried to grab hold of him but somehow missed, the way his shadow seemed to grow bigger and bigger until it ate him up.

\----------

James came to on a hospital bed.

His joints still ached. His muscles were still stiff. His neck scar still hurt like the depths of hell.

At least he felt well-rested.

“James,” Aaron spoke up, and James turned to him where Aaron frowned down at him from the side of his bed. Behind Aaron stood Thomas, arms folded across his chest tightly, eyes cast to the ground. Across the room was an older doctor, gripping a clipboard so tightly between her fingers that her fingertips were white.

“I’m sorry, James,” she said, “you’ve been infected by the vampire bite.”

“Like a virus?” James asked weakly. “Some bacteria got into my open wound or something?”

“Worst,” she said sadly, “Do you know why vampires stopped biting humans when the cooler was invented?”

“...No?”

“Do you know the effects of a vampire biting a human?” Thomas spoke up, glancing up at James. Their gazes met, and James could see distinct and heavy guilt in his eyes.

James blushed at the thought of the effects of Thomas’ bite on him.

“It makes me clingy,” James lowered his voice and turned redder as he vocalised his experiences in public company. “It makes me needy. Makes me yearn for your touch. For your protection. I’m like the little bunny that somehow found my way into a herd of lions and now they protect me like one of their own. I become dependent. Reliant on you. Only you can give me what I need.” James finished with a deep inhale of air, realising how he had exhausted himself with that vomit of words. His scar burned as James recalled what he once had with Vampire Thomas.

“Over-dependent,” Thomas corrected, taking a step forward. He sat down on a chair by James’ bedside and took James’ hand. “Over-reliant.”

“Hmm?” James frowned.

“It’s an addiction, James. I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I would never have done it if I had known that the side effects were so much more serious than that temporary rush for both of us,” Thomas hung his head, casting his gaze to the ground.

“When coolers were invented in the 1950s,” the doctor picked up Thomas’ story, moving towards the foot of James’ bed, “Vampires stopped biting their victims. They started to kill and drain blood, keeping excess blood in the cooler for transport and future use instead of having a clingy, needy human trail behind them.”

“Vampires are protective around their human counterparts,” Aaron picked up the story, “but humans always got the worst end of the deal. When vampires found a new,fresher victim to feed from, they usually discarded the old victim and the old victim lived for the rest of their short lives in pure discomfort, bound to the vampire by their bite, never getting the euphoric release their body needed to survive. They eventually die unfulfilled, in absolute pain and in loneliness.”

“Even without emotions,” the doctor continued, meeting James’ gaze. “Even without a sense of guilt, the vampires stopped this cruel practise on humans. They stopped this psychological torture on humans, because even vampires have a _heart_.”

That was Thomas’ breaking point.

“I’m so sorry,” Thomas buried his face into the blanket over James’ stomach. The room was quiet as Thomas blubbered out the rest of his apology between heavy sobs. “I’m so sorry, honey. I didn’t know. I would never have done it. I would never hurt you. You believe me, right? Please believe me; I would never do anything to hurt you. I love you, James. I love you-”

“Thomas,” James said, and Thomas shut up immediately, save for his messy sniffling into the blanket. “I love you too,” was all James needed to assure. James’ simple words spoke volumes, and Thomas relaxed where he sat. James looked up at the doctor. “Is there a cure?” he asked.

She was quiet for a moment. “Becoming a vampire,” she finally said.

“I would rather die,” James immediately retorted.

“James, please,” Aaron spoke up, urgency in his voice.

“Being a vampire essentially resets your body,” the doctor explained, “the human body is unable to heal the bond you feel towards your now-non-existent vampire partner, but vampire blood would be strong enough to break that bond, heal the scar perfectly inside and out as it modifies your entire body. You would be free from the psychological horrors of the bitten bond.”

“But I would be a _vampire_ ,” James found the energy to spit at that horrendous suggestion, “I would be a _monster_.”

“We have a cure now, James,” Aaron tried, “You would still be you. You would still have your emotions, your humanity.”

“What if the cure doesn’t work?” James immediately retorted. “There hasn’t been a real test yet, not on a living vampire.”

“But there’s a _chance_ -” Aaron tried again.

James interrupted Aaron with a sudden shove of Thomas off him. He ripped the tubes out of his arm and slid off the bed.

“James!” Aaron called out.

“No!” James snarled, wincing as his fumbling feet slammed him shoulder-first into a wall. His sight spun the world before him but James found the wall and used his memory of the hospital layout to guide himself out. He walked down the corridor, a pounding sound growing louder and louder in his mind until it shattered his concentration. James collapsed onto the ground, and found himself scooped up into familiar arms.

“I’ve got you,” came Thomas’ thick, comforting voice and James allowed himself to relax, closing his eyes, trusting Thomas to carry him away to safety.

Thomas lay him down on the bed.

“Thanks,” James croaked, and tried to open his tired eyes when Thomas hushed him, sitting on the bed beside him.

“I would never force you to do something you didn’t want to,” Thomas assured, stroking James’ hair gently with a hand. Thomas was quiet for a moment, as though deep in thought. “But I got you into this problem, and I’ll get you out of it.”

James managed to focus his vision on Thomas as Thomas reached forward towards the bedside drawers and pulled out a bottle of sleeping pills from the top drawer. James knew that Thomas had been taking them to help with his recurring nightmares, but this bottle was unopened.

“I don’t think sleep will help much,” James tried to joke, pushing himself up into a sitting position. Thomas helped him up, then reached into the drawer again.

“I know,” Thomas responded with absolute seriousness, placing a second unopened bottle on the table. He then picked up one bottle and uncapped it. “The doctor explained everything to us while you were still asleep,” Thomas began, pouring the entire bottle of pills into his hand. “I knew that you would choose death over becoming a vampire.” Thomas transferred the pills into James’ hand then reached for the other bottle and uncapped it as well. “I knew that I didn’t want you to hurt anymore, and that I couldn’t live without you.”

James was silent as Thomas emptied the bottle onto his palm. Thomas moved slowly, calmly, having accepted and internalised his decision. This was the best course of action in response to James’ predicament, short of becoming a vampire. This was the only way out.

James trusted Thomas. He had always won his battles with death but today, he would willingly step into that darkness. He had no regrets; he had killed many vampires in his lifetime. He had found love, a family and brotherhood. He had lived and experienced real life outside a hunter’s lifestyle. He was ready to end everything; end his mental pain, end his physical pain, end his emotional pain.

Thomas shifted James so he lay against Thomas instead of the bedrest. Thomas snaked his free arm around James’ waist and gave him a last kiss on his forehead. Thomas raised his hand of pills and turned to James. James raised his own hand in response. “These are our nightlock berries,” Thomas whispered.

“Together?” James said, finding himself a lot more steady, calm and relaxed than he had been in months. He looked up at Thomas, catching his gaze.

Trust. Contentment. Acceptance. Love.

“Together,” Thomas agreed.

This was it.

“One,” Thomas tightened his arm around James’ waist.

“Two,” James rested his head against Thomas’ shoulder.

“Three,” Thomas whispered with a soft exhale.

“STOP!” yelled Seneca Crane, bursting into the room and slapping the pills out of their hands.

“Aaron-”

“I can’t believe you two would run away from your problems like cowards. I can’t believe you two would give up, just like that!”

“There’s no way out for us, Aaron,” Thomas explained calmly, the serenity of death lingering in the room.

Aaron slapped Thomas hard. He then turned to James and raised his hand again to slap him as well, but clenched his fist and restrained from slapping his brother. “There’s always a way out!” Aaron screamed into James’ face instead.

“Becoming a vampire?” James asked wryly.

Aaron fell to his knees before them.

He wasn’t an authoritative hunter, or a caring brother. Aaron was a desperate, broken soul. It sent shivers straight into James’ heart to see the usually firm and steady Aaron so torn apart.

“I’ve already lost Theodosia because I failed to protect her,” Aaron took James’ hand and looked up at him, pleading with his eyes as he shuffled closer on his knees. “I can’t lose my brother as well. I don’t want to lose my brother because I failed to protect him from his own irrational thoughts. I can’t lose you, James. You’re all I have left. I can’t.”

“I would rather die than be a monster,” James reiterated, keeping his tone gentle.

“But you won’t be a monster,” Aaron insisted. “We have a cure. We have a cure, James. You will be you. You won’t be a monster. You’ll have emotions. You’ll still be you!”

“The cure isn’t ready yet,” Thomas spoke up, and Aaron turned to him. “We haven’t tried it on any vampire yet.”

Aaron turned back to James hopefully.

“No,” Thomas answered for him, “No, James will not be our first guinea pig.”

“Thomas,” Aaron snapped his head towards him. There was a silent exchange as Aaron glared at Thomas, then Thomas sighed, patted James’ hand and stood up. “It’s your decision, honey,” Thomas told him, “I’ll support you, no matter what you choose.”

Thomas left the room and Aaron turned back to James immediately.

“Listen to me,” Aaron begged. “If it works, you’ll still be you and you would have pioneered the serum to help vampires become peaceful and live harmoniously with humans. You would be the start of a new era. No more fear. No more fighting. No more hatred.”

“What if it fails?” James scoffed. “I would be a monster. I would be just another normal blood-lusting vampire.”

Aaron’s expression darkened. His lower lip trembled ever so slightly, and James knew that Aaron didn’t want to kill him, but would if the need arose. “Then I’ll make sure Death is served to you by my own two hands.”

James hesitated. “I don’t want to be a vampire,” he repeated, “I’ll still need blood. I’ll still have vampiric urges. The serum doesn’t take those away.”

“I’m sure I heard Thomas talking about animal blood before?” Aaron cocked his head slightly. “And instincts can be controlled. Urges can be suppressed. I’ll help you every step of the way, James.”

James remained silent.

“Let me ask you,” Aaron lowered his voice. “Was Vampire-Thomas-with-emotions still the same Thomas you know and love?”

“Yes,” James responded. There was never any doubt. Vampire-Thomas-with-emotions might have more primal urges, but beneath his instincts, it was the same Thomas, the same man that James loved.

“Vampire-James-with-emotions would be you as well,” Aaron placed his hand on James’ lap and shook him lightly. “Haven’t you always wanted to stop humanity from being afraid? Stopping others from experiencing the same nightmares that continue to haunt you?”

“Yes,” James whispered.

“Now you can stand at the forefront of change and be part of a historic movement. You’re not going to be a monster-” James visibly cringed when Aaron said that word, “-you’re going to be a _hero_.” Aaron placed a strong emphasis on the last word, and James glanced at him in slight surprise.

Absolute conviction hardened Aaron’s gaze. There was something inspiring about the determination in Aaron’s eyes, the absolute trust and belief that everything was going to work out for the better.

“If I can do anything to stop others from undergoing the same pain I felt, I will,” James spoke firmly. _Even if it means becoming a vampire?_ his mind whispered his doubts to him. “Even if it means becoming a vampire,” James spoke with an uncertainty giving his voice a slight tremor.

“If it fails, at least you died honourably. At least you died for what you believed in,” Aaron assured.

“Sacrificing myself for the greater good?” James forced a smile.

“Always for the greater good,” Aaron smiled back, relaxing now that he had almost captured James’ agreement. “That’s why we’re hunters, isn’t it?”

“I’m going to regret this,” James whispered, more to himself than Aaron.

Aaron remained silent, eyes wide and imploring, awaiting James’ direct confirmation.

James wasn’t 100% convinced himself, but Aaron’s absolute certainty tilted his uncertain scales. Aaron had been his advisor and partner his entire life. He trusted Aaron. He trust his life in Aaron’s hands.

“Yes,” James cleared his throat and raised his rough voice loud enough so Thomas could hear him from where he was pressed up against the door and attempting to eavesdrop.

The words were hard for him to say in an entire self-contained sentence. James swallowed and tried again.

“Yes,” James agreed, “I will be a vampire.”

■■■■■■■

James was flanked by both Thomas and Aaron, holding him steady on his feet as his knees trembled just entering the room they had set up for his transformation.

Scientists lined the right side of the wall where there was a table with beakers and flasks and other scientific equipment. One of the scientists was typing away at a keyboard, words of scientific gibberish appearing on a large flat-screened computer hung against the wall, the kind you saw in evil lairs.

Hunters lined the left side of the wall. Some of them were his elites, others were hunters that James didn’t even know. James supposed that the authorities had demanded a mixture of hunters in the room, just in case James’ elites refused to shoot Vampire James if the situation really called for his death.

In the middle of the room sat the very chair that they had first found Thomas in. Some of the hunters had gone back to the house in the woods to bring it back to headquarters. A scientist pushed an IV Drip stand towards the chair, the bag of vampire blood hooked up and ready for transfusion.

The scientist met James’ gaze and gave him a small encouraging smile, but James could read the sadness in her eyes. The scientist was afraid of failure. Afraid that the serum wouldn’t work as expected. Afraid that they would lose James, the first volunteer of their experiment. “Whenever you’re ready,” she spoke softly, gesturing at the chair.

James stumbled the short distance from the entrance of the room to the chair. Each heavy step was made with difficulty; as though his lead legs were the last line of defense before his death. James sat down. He was numb as the scientist cuffed his left wrist down to the chair. His own heartbeat echoed in his ears, and James realised that the entire room was silently watching him, the heaviness of possible death weighing down on everyone’s shoulders.

The scientist strapped a black band around James’ right wrist that had a display bar the length of his wrist. “This is a tracker,” she explained to James and the room of silent individuals, “When we inject you with the serum, this will track the serum activity in your bloodstream. It will let us know if your body is rejecting or resisting the serum, if the serum has gone dormant or inactive, or if your body is responding well to the serum in your bloodstream.”

“James,” Thomas spoke up for the first time since entering the room, walking towards him and kneeling so he could look meet James’ downcast eyes. “You’re the start of a new era of peace. You’re going to make history.”

“For the good of humanity,” James muttered tiredly, more to himself than to Thomas. He had to become a monster to save the rest of humanity from the monsters. He had to live in his greatest nightmare for the rest of eternity so others would no longer be haunted, tortured by the same fear he had experienced.

“For the good of humanity,” Thomas echoed firmly, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to James’ lips. Thomas pulled back and gave James a small smile, cupping his cheek with a hand and using his thumb to wipe away the silent tears streaming down his cheeks.

James looked up at him, searching for the emotions in Thomas’ eyes he always found comfort in.

Fear. Sorrow. Worry.

It didn’t help to settle James’ own nerves. Not until James looked deeper into Thomas’ eyes.

Trust. Pride. Love.

“I’m so proud of you,” Thomas whispered.

James’ gaze flickered up to Aaron, still standing near the entrance with his arms crossed over his chest and a serious expression on his face.

“Promise me,” James demanded, his hoarse and trembling voice making his demand sound more like a plea. “Promise me, Aaron.”

Aaron hesitated, lips parting to speak, but then he nodded and exhaled a shaky breath through his parted lips. “I promise,” Aaron spoke solemnly, “I promise to kill you if the serum fails and you are unable to find yourself again, remaining a monster.”

“No!” Thomas exclaimed at the same time James mouthed a “thank you” to his brother. Thomas twisted around to look at Aaron, and turned back to face James. “No, the serum will work,” Thomas pleaded, “even if the first batch doesn’t work, we can still try the second batch on you! We will succeed, eventually we will, I know we will. I don’t want to lose you just because the first batch didn’t work. I can’t live without you, James-”

“Thomas,” James interrupted him in a quiet voice, but Thomas immediately shut up.

“I’m sorry,” Thomas looked down to his knees and seemed to shrink in on himself, “I’m sorry, I’m not helping.”

James shook his head and reached his uncuffed right hand out towards Thomas. Thomas grasped his hand and looked up at James again. James gave him a small smile, and Thomas closed the space between them for one last kiss.

“I’ll stay right here,” Thomas promised, “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

He was going to wake up a monster.

“Are you ready?” the scientist spoke up again.

“No,” James whispered, seized by last-minute nerves, his vision blurring with a fresh batch of tears, wondering if he could call everything off.

He was going to become a monster. He was willingly going to become a monster. He had lost his mind to agree to this. He was going to be a _monster_ -

“Yes,” Thomas whispered back, squeezing his hand. The scientist fiddled with a dial on the IV Drip bag. Vampire blood began flowing down the tube into James’ arm.

James focused on the warmth of Thomas’ hand in his. He focused on the pride and the love in Thomas’ eyes. His gaze flickered up and focused on Aaron. Aaron gave James a small nod of reassurance.

James’ breath hitched in his throat as the vampire blood entered his circulatory system, then found his muscles relaxing as he slumped in his seat.

It was as though the vampire blood was metal and weighing down on his blood vessels so much that his limbs became heavy. That was not all; as it travelled through his body, a sort of numbness followed. A fog brewed in his mind. His thoughts were groggy. Thinking was hard.

James struggled to stay awake, to stay alert.

“It’s okay, Jemmy. You can go to sleep. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

James tried to respond to that, but his eyes were already closing and his body functions were shutting down for hibernation.

His fuzzy vision turned dark, and darkness swallowed him into its black abyss.

 

 

He was floating in nothingness.

The silence was soothing.

There was nothing to see, nothing to do, nothing to think about.

He wasn’t sure who he was anymore.

He wasn’t sure what he was.

He wasn’t sure why he was here.

The coldness of emptiness pierced his very being. It numbed him, froze his heart, stopped him from being able to feel.

Emotions were such a foreign concept when there was nothing to feel anything about.

He let himself float: void of feelings, void of emotions, void of memories.

Something was pulling him out of the void. Something disturbed his peace. Something was breaking him out of the abyss.

Someone was trying to wake him.

He didn’t like that. He wanted to stay. He wanted to float. He clung on to the peace of nothingness. He held on to the cold of emptiness.

He was falling. He was falling through shades of black.

Hole after hole after hole.

Endless.

Eternal.

Falling.

 

 

He was slammed back into the chair, into his body, into reality.

He opened his eyes.

There was something stirring in his stomach. Something urgent, something insistent. Hunger, he realised. He was hungry. He wondered how long he had not eaten for.

Someone had their hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently, ceasing when he shifted in his seat.

“He’s awake,” the man before him announced, and he looked up at the man.

The man squatting before him gasped and almost lost his balance when their gazes met. He stared into the man’s opaque sunglasses and wondered why the man’s lower lip wobbled.

“James,” the man said, his voice trembling slightly. “Can you hear me? Do you know who I am?”

The man was encouraging him to think. He saw no reason to bother thinking. He found that the coldness and peace of the abyss had followed him into his body. He tapped into that emptiness and simply stared back at the man, unthinking, unfeeling.

“James,” the man insisted. Was he James? He didn’t know. He didn’t care. “I know you know who I am. Please. Give me a sign that it’s you.”

He pulled his lips back to reveal his fangs and express his hunger.

“Right,” the man muttered “Sorry. You’re hungry. You’re not thinking, you’re reacting.”

The man looked around, but he (James?) kept his eyes trained on the man.

“Can we get James some food?” The man was careful not to raise his voice too much. “Some blood in a glass, please. Take my blood if you have to. I’ll feed him.”

There was a shuffling of footsteps and a plastic cup appeared in his line of sight. The man winced as the doctor that brought the cup drew some blood from his arm and squirted it into the cup.

His stomach growled. He snarled. _Food_.

The man guided the cup of blood down his throat. He gulped down his meal. Delicious. Delectable. The cup of blood was pulled away before his hunger was sated.

“That’s enough,” the man said.

He hissed, but he knew that the man was right. He wasn’t starving anymore, just... hungry for power. Thirsty for control. Eager to establish his dominance.

“James?” the man before him called out again, and this time, a sense of familiarity echoed in his mind.

That was him. He was James. That was his name.

“No, don’t rush him,” the man before him addressed someone out of James’ sight, waving a hand at them but never turning away from him. “He needs time to remember.”

He was James Madison and he was a vampire hunter. Why was he a vampire hunter? Because vampires killed his parents and the hunters saved him before he was turned into one of them.

One of _us_.

He was a vampire now. Why had he resisted his fate for so long? Why had he dedicated his life to kill such creatures of magnificence? Everything in his blood screamed of dominance, of superiority. He was better than everyone in this room. He was better than the man in front of him. All of them were puny humans he could crush with one clench of his fist.

“He’s adjusting to the new sensitivity in his body,” the man explained. James wondered how the man was so accurate in his analysis, as though he had personally undergone what James was experiencing that very moment. “He feels the power in his veins.”

James did. He felt the strength, the speed, the power. He could see better, hear better, smell better. Every beat of his heart was another rush of adrenaline, another howl of the alpha. There was nothing holding him back. Nothing.

No more emotions clouding his judgement. No more feeble emotions causing him to hesitate.

“He realises he doesn’t feel anymore,” the man whispered.

The void had settled deep in the darkness of his heart. There was emptiness where his deepest emotions used to be. As a hunter, James had never succeeded in completely shutting out his emotions when he needed to. Now, he no longer had emotions and _god_ was he powerful. This was what he had been missing his entire life.

It would be a waste if all this power inside of him was not expressed at the earliest opportunity.

“He wants to test his new power on someone or something,” the man took a deep breath. “Inject him with the serum.”

James winced slightly as someone injected something into his arm. Immediately, the black band around his right wrist lit up in activation and a red bar appeared on the display, accompanied with a loud blaring noise that made James wince again and snarl at the noise.

“Give the serum some time to kick in. Knock him out,” the man said, and something hard hit James over his head.

 

 

There was something drifting in the void of his heart when James emerged from unconsciousness.

James frowned. He didn’t like the clutter in his heart. He wished the void was a black hole and that the _something_ would just go away.

“Jemmy,” the man before him was still there, on his knees. He took James’ left hand and squeezed it tightly. He placed his other hand over the black wristband, muffling the loud siren it was emitting. He looked up at James, but James couldn’t see his eyes behind the protective shades. “Jemmy, it’s me. Can you hear me? Do you know who I am? Give me a sign that it’s you. Please?”

 _Thomas_ , his mind supplied, accompanied by a rush of warmth from the depths of his heart.

 **Food** , the void sucked the warmth out of his heart so James could clearly see that the man before him was nothing more than prey.

James bared his fangs at the man, at this Thomas guy. He tried to lash out and attack, but someone grabbed his shoulders from behind and forced him back in his seat. How annoying; he was outnumbered. Once he found a way to escape, Thomas was going to be his next meal.

“He’s resisting the serum,” someone beyond James’ straight line of sight called out.

“Give him another shot,” Thomas commanded, squeezing James’ hand again.

James received another injection into his upper arm. The _thing_ in the void of his heart filled the emptiness a little more, but it was still too far, still out of reach.

Not that James cared what it was or what it did. He wanted it to go away. The void was enough for him. The void gave him power. He saw no reason to seek a different path.

“He’s still resisting,” the person reported.

“James,” Thomas said, leaning closer. James snarled, but Thomas didn’t flinch or express any sign of fear. James was aware of the way his eyes were heating up in his attempt to enchant Thomas. He didn’t like it that Thomas was invading his personal space. He couldn’t enchant Thomas and get him to leave him alone because of the stupid protective shades he was wearing.

“It’s me, Thomas,” Thomas continued in a low, comforting voice. “I know you feel that void in your heart. I know how consuming the emptiness feels. The strange thing floating in the void? That’s your emotions. We gave you back your emotions. Will you allow it to fill the void in your heart? For me?”

“Why?” James growled, low and animalistic. “Why should I care? Why do you care?”

Thomas seemed taken aback or horrified by the roughness of James’ voice but quickly collected himself again.

“You have to remember what separates you from the other vampires.” Thomas spoke calmly in response to James’ hostility. “You’re the first vampire to test the serum we created. You’re the start of peace and harmony between vampires and human.”

“I remember,” James assured.

He did. His human memories were crystal clear. He had been immune to a vampire’s enchantment, so when he was turned, he became a supervampire with complete human memories and perhaps other abilities they had not discovered yet.

James knew that the scientists had used Thomas’ immunity to vampire blood to create the serum and he was their first lab rat, here to test if the serum really did bring vampires back their emotions and subsequently, their humanity.

James remembered, but he saw no reason to care if the serum had worked. He saw no reason to play by the humans’ demands and rules. He was a vampire now; he was going to rule _them_.

“I don’t care,” James announced, his cold words cutting the air with his lack of emotions.

“James,” Thomas tried again, “I love you.”

“I don’t,” James cackled, the memory of love distant and unimportant in the list of priorities of his new life. He was a vampire now. Vampires didn’t feel love. Vampires didn’t need love.

James’ heart twinged in his chest as Thomas’ expression fell, the void momentarily overwhelming him with emotions, but it was too brief for James to comprehend and too minute for him to care.

“GOD DAMNIT, JAMES!” Someone across the room yelled and walked briskly towards him. James was forced to look up at the newcomer when he pressed the tip of a revolver against James’ forehead and forced his head back.

 _Aaron_ , the back of his mind whispered. _Brother. Partner. Friend._

 **Human** , the void insisted, his heart empty of emotional response to his knowledge of Aaron. **Just another weak human. Just another source of food.**

James peeled his lips back to display his fangs in a show of dominance, struggling against whoever was holding him down. James spat and snarled at Aaron, but Aaron only cocked the revolver resting against James’ forehead.

“I will not hesitate to shoot if you have become the very monster that killed your own parents,” Aaron warned.

_Monster._

James stopped.

The wristband stopped blaring the siren. Out of the corner of his eyes, James could see the display fill with more bars until three red bars lit up one-third of the display.

Aaron lowered his revolver. James closed his eyes as the thing, the _emotions_ teased at him from the corners of the void.

Pain. Guilt. Loss. Sadness.

James slumped back in his chair and the hands on his shoulder relaxed.

_I’m no different from the monsters that killed my family. I’m going to kill someone else’s family and become the monsters that ruined my life. It’s a vicious cycle and I decided to step into it._

**Power comes with a price, but this price is expendable. Why should you care about the humans?**

_I have to stop the cycle. I have the serum. I’m a vampire, but I can have feelings if I try hard enough._

James opened his eyes and inhaled slowly, then exhaled shakily with that knowledge. He felt stronger now, more determined. He was different. He could choose to not be a monster. If he concentrated hard enough, he could be human. He could have his humanity back.

The wristband added another two yellow bars to the display.

“You broke him, Aaron,” the scientist applauded, “He stopped resisting the serum.”

“James?” Thomas immediately perked up. “James, can you hear me?”

“I’m not a monster,” James whispered to himself.

**That’s right, you’re not a monster. You’re just powerful beyond human understanding.**

James squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced as the void wiped his emotions clean and twisted his mental strength down a different path.

The wristband lost both yellow bars immediately.

“He’s resisting again. There’s something preventing him from accepting the serum. You have to push him harder!”

**They labeled you a monster, but you should be a God!**

The hands on his shoulders tightened their grip as James tensed in his seat.

“You’re not a monster, James.” Thomas spoke gently, encouragingly. James latched on to the sincerity in Thomas’ voice, holding on to the sense of familiarity. He wanted to feel again, but the emotions in the void were slipping through his fingers, just beyond his reach.

“You’re an angel. You’re my angel.” Thomas soothed, taking James’ hand and rubbing his thumb over the back of James’ hand gently.

**An angel! A saviour! You can bring the vampires through a new age of power and dominance! You can rule the world! You can save the world by bringing it all under your control!**

One red bar on James’ wristband flickered and disappeared as the promise of power and control easily emptied his heart of emotions again. Why had he been fighting so hard to retain something so useless to his pursuit of world dominance?

“We’re losing him!” the scientist warned.

“ _I’m not fucking losing James!_ ” Thomas yelled back.

Maybe it was the desperation in Thomas’ voice. Maybe it was the anger. Maybe it was the sorrow. Maybe it was all three. Whatever it was, Thomas’ emotional sentence startled something within James awake.

“I didn’t come so far only to lose him at the very end!” Thomas continued. “I didn’t work so fucking hard for our experiment to fail on James! If you kill James,” Thomas snarled, snatching Aaron’s revolver out of his hand and resting it against his own temple, “You might as well kill me too!”

James wanted to reach out to Thomas. He wanted to stop Thomas. He wanted to comfort Thomas. He wanted Thomas to be happy.

**Look at the human, so emotionally unstable. So weak and frail, guided by misdirected thoughts. Aren’t you glad that you’re unburdened by such illogical motivations?**

_Emotions aren’t weak._

One yellow bar returned to his wristband display.

_Emotions make you stronger._

“Thomas,” James managed to croak out.

“James,” Thomas immediately dropped the revolver and fell to his knees, grabbing James by his upper arms. Thomas’ arms were trembling, causing him to shake James lightly. “James, how do you feel?”

**Feel? You do not feel! You do not have emotions! You are a vampire!**

“F-Feel?” James stuttered, shaking his head stiffly. “I- I don’t… I can’t… I’m trying...”

“Take your time, James,” Thomas encouraged, squeezing his arms.

“He’s running out of time,” the scientist behind them spoke, “if his body doesn’t accept the serum soon, it’ll go dormant in his bloodstream. He’s not going to have his emotions. He’ll be a normal vampire. We’re going to have to kill him.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Thomas snapped at the scientist irritably. “You’re not James. You’re not a vampire. You don’t know how hard he’s trying to find himself again. He just needs a little more time.”

“He needs an example of what emotions might be like,” Aaron muttered a possible approach. “How it looks like, how it feels like.”

Thomas straightened with an idea. He took a deep breath, then pulled his shades off and locked gazes with James.

“Look at me, Jemmy,” Thomas commanded.

“Are you crazy?” Aaron hissed, “That’s not what I meant! You never look directly into a vampire’s eyes!”

_Never look directly into a Vampire’s eyes._

Unless that vampire was James Madison, with a knack for reading emotions from the eyes of people.

James’ first instinct commanded him to enthrall the human. He was to make the human submissive and compliant. He was to direct the human to offer James his neck as entry to his circulatory system and James’ meal for the day.

James almost did, but he was caught by the intensity in Thomas’ eyes.

Trust. Worry. Respect. Determination. Love.

The overwhelming emotions in Thomas’ eyes snagged onto James’ emotions within the void, preventing them from being eaten by the void again.

**You’re a failure for allowing emotions back into your life!**

_No,_ James shook his head slowly, _No, I’m not a failure. I’m being human._

James grasped hold of the emotions within the void and _pulled_ -

-until emotions filled the void in his heart.

Something in his expression must have changed, because Thomas went “James?” in a small voice, then choked out a sob and enveloped him in a hug.

The display on the wristband soared up to a safe green. The hunter behind James came around and released James’ left wrist from the cuff of the chair. James tried to smile when he saw that it was Connor, but his smile must have emerged a grimace because Connor returned a sympathetic but understanding nod.

James raised his arms slowly and returned the hug, the tingling sensation of love warming his every cell.

“You did it,” the scientist breathed in wonder. “He accepted the serum. The serum does work.”

“James,” Thomas whispered, tightening his embrace, his voice trembling, “I’m so glad it worked. I was so afraid. I was so scared I would lose you.”

“Thomas,” James whispered back, his voice low and rough. “I’m me again.”

“You are,” Thomas pulled away to grin at James and wipe the tears of relief from his eyes.

James blinked, glancing around the room, seeing the world through his newly sharpened gaze. So this was what vampires saw. This was how being a vampire felt like.

His eyes landed on Aaron.

“Aaron,” James smiled. “Thank you.”

“Glad to have you back,” Aaron gave him a firm nod, hands resting against his belt. James understood that Aaron, as a precaution, wasn’t going to drop his hunter seriousness around him, a vampire. It was enough to see Aaron’s slumped shoulders to know that he was pleased the serum had worked successfully.

Thomas helped James stand up. He supported James as he shuffled the numbness out of his legs. James raised a hand to his neck and brushed his fingers against the smooth skin. Sometime during his week of hibernation, the scar of Thomas’ bite had healed itself. He was free from the effects of a vampire’s bite.

**You can be the one biting people now. Bringing them under your control. You can rule the world.**

The void still existed in his heart, working like a small vacuum, emptying James’ emotions away little by little. One green bar on his wristband flickered. Thomas noticed, taking James’ right hand and interlocking their fingers.

“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked, concerned, worried and a little panicked.

“It’s… It’s hard to remember to feel,” James pressed his lips into a line as he frowned. “I’ve always pushed my emotions away, not embrace them.”

“We have an eternity to figure it out,” Thomas assured, “and I’ll keep working on the serum. One day, we’ll find one that integrates itself into vampire blood cells so you’d have your emotions permanently. Vampires can truly become a new kind of humanity then.”

“I’ll have an eternity to figure it out,” James nodded.

“No,” Thomas said gently, pulling James into a soft kiss. “ _We_ have an eternity to figure it out.”

“Thomas?” the scientist spoke up, and James heard the wheels of the IV Drip stand screeching across the floor. “The drip has been reset for you.”

“No,” James grabbed Thomas’ arm tightly with his new supernatural strength, not allowing him to approach the chair. “I can’t let you do this. I won’t let you suffer with me.”

“I won’t let you struggle alone, James,” Thomas spoke calmly, having already internalised his decision. James wondered when during his week of hibernation did Thomas make this decision, or if he had already decided the day James agreed to be a vampire lab rat.

“But the falling… and the pain…” James trailed off, biting his lower lip, his chest clenching with worry and anxiety and pain.

Thomas pulled James close. James wrapped him in a hug, sniffling into his shoulder as Thomas patted his back.

“An eternity with you and the good we bring to humanity outweighs everything else,” Thomas assured, “isn’t that why you agreed to become a vampire?”

“Yes,” James whispered. He did weigh the benefit to humanity more than his own fears of becoming a monster, leading to his drastic decision of becoming a vampire.

 _Not a monster,_ James reminded himself firmly.

“Then let me join you,” Thomas murmured, turning his head slightly pressing a kiss to James’ cheek.

“I love you,” James whispered, holding him tightly in their embrace.

“I love you too,” Thomas said, and James could hear the smile in his voice.

“I’ll be right here when you wake up,” James promised as he released his grip around Thomas’ arm and Thomas sat down on the chair.

“Listen to Aaron,” Thomas began rambling as the scientists cuffed his left wrist in place and hooked him up with the blood, efficient after their week of practice with James. “Tell him if you need another shot of the serum. You should need one approximately every twelve hours. Tell Aaron if you need help finding your emotions, finding yourself. No more than one glass of blood a day, or you’ll find the void stronger than ever. Remember- you’re more than just a vampire. You are the future, James. You’re my angel. You’re…”

"He’ll be fine,” Aaron spoke up as Thomas’ eyes fluttered close and he slumped in hibernation as the vampire blood re-entered his circulatory system. James realised that he had begun chewing his lower lip in nervousness and stopped with a nervous laugh. James turned around to face Aaron, who was still wearing his protective shades. James brought a hand up to his own red eyes; Aaron would never be able to take the shades off around James ever again.

“Come,” Aaron said, giving James a small, mona lisa smile that only he would be able to catch, “There’s been so many changes in both the vampire and the hunter world to brief you on.”

■■■■■■■■

EPILOGUE

The hunters moved out of their headquarters and into the vampire castle.

Thomas’ first decree as King was a law that banned the consumption of human blood. To help facilitate this change, he began delivering free animal blood bags to vampires all over the world. He declared neutrality with the hunters and re-established their purpose to hunt down vampires who didn’t adhere to his new laws.

Thomas had a very predictable daily schedule. He would wake up a fully functional and emotional vampire. He would skip breakfast in order to deal with vampire affairs and problems in the vampire community that called for his attention in the morning. Thomas never sat on the throne and made decisions unless he was 100% sure he was emotionally invested in each and every verdict he made. It was a statement to the rest of the vampires, that their King could have emotions and still pass fair judgement; that having emotions was not a sign of weakness.

Thomas dedicated his afternoons to the hunters. He had volunteered to be the in-house vampire for new hunters to battle as a physical alternative to their VR trainings. He would have his only glass of blood for the day in a training room and immediately throw himself into sparring with a hunter. The hunters were not allowed to use guns or stakes on Thomas, but Thomas encouraged them to show him their best with a blade or nunchucks or other weapons that didn’t cause permanent damage. Thomas would fight until the blood in his system wore off and he regained his emotions.

Evenings were reserved for James, but more often than not some urgent matter would crop up and demand Thomas’ immediate attention, or Thomas would have unfinished king-ly business to attend to.

Thomas always apologised and tried to make up for it, but James honestly didn’t mind. He understood; Thomas had a lot of work to do as the new King intending to usher in an era of peace between humans and vampires.

Thomas had invited James to sit on the throne with him, but James refused. He didn’t trust himself. He didn’t trust his own thoughts and emotions. He didn’t trust his own self-control.

James was content with his monotonous job of watching over the packaging and shipment of animal blood from the farms Thomas had successfully partnered with. It gave him a purpose to exist, a reason to live. It reminded him that he was part of the movement towards historical peace.

James knew that, unlike Thomas, his state of mind and emotions were unpredictable.

He tried his damndest to remember that he was more than a monster, more than a simple vampire, but there were days when the voice of the void overwhelmed his logic, knowledge and the serum, drawing him into that emotionless darkness.

James did everything he could to resist his vampiric instincts, to protect himself and the people around him. He knew he was very dangerous as an emotionless vampire; with his elite hunter training and knowledge combined with supernatural speed, strength and agility, he was basically an unstoppable force. Thomas, the Vampire _King_ , would lose in a fight against emotionless James.

That was why James no longer carried a weapon on him, and exclusively wore the restrictive woolen sweaters and pajamas pants Thomas had bought him. They were no longer for comfort; they were to restrict and slow his own movements. That was why Aaron followed him everywhere, as a bodyguard and as someone who could draw James out of his own mind, stop him before he lost all his emotions.

_I’m doing this for humanity. This is the right thing to do. I am the pioneer batch of a new species of vampires. A peaceful and harmonious species. A species that has emotions and is able to feel. A species that retains their humanity. No one will ever be hurt the same way I was hurt._

_And yet…_

_I’m not._

_The serum isn’t effective enough to keep me from the primal cravings of my animalistic body. The serum doesn’t stop the adrenaline that runs through me when I feel untouchable. It doesn’t stop the yearning to destroy something, to prove my superiority, to claim my rightful place as the better species._

_It just brings me guilt. It makes me aware that these thoughts are wrong. It brings me pain that I can’t stop myself from having these instinctive, territorial thoughts._

_I’m still a monster._

_I’ve become what I’ve been killing all my life._

_I hate what I am._

_I hate hating myself._

_I want to stop feeling. I want to stop hating._

“James?”

James jerked at the sound of his name, startled, shaking the box he was carrying and dropping some blood bags onto the floor. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to greet Aaron’s worried frown with a small smile.

“Are you feeling alright?” Aaron asked, hands resting casually on his revolver holders at his belt.

James took a deep breath.

“Yeah, I am,” James responded, bending down and reaching for the scattered blood bags with his right arm.

The first green bar flickered and disappeared from his wristband.

“You spaced out a little there,” Aaron’s voice softened, having seen a bar disappear, indicating James’ emotional instability, “want to talk about it?”

“No,” James shot back, defensive, muscles tensing. _I hate admitting that I’m a monster. I hate that Aaron has to follow me everywhere I go. I hate being so helpless._ “It’s nothing.”

**If you didn’t hate, didn’t feel, you wouldn’t feel helpless. You would be so much stronger. You would have so much control. You would be superior.**

The second green bar disappeared and James gritted his teeth together in frustration.

The monster in him was waking up because he couldn’t control himself. Because he was weak. Because he couldn’t handle his own emotions.

“That doesn’t look like nothing, James,” Aaron raised a questioning eyebrow, squatting down to help James pick up the blood bags. “Talk to me,” Aaron encouraged, tugging the box of out of James’ grip and placing it on the floor. He shuffled closer and reached an arm around James’ shoulders. “Tell me how you feel.”

James was not used to talking about his emotions to feel better. He was used to shutting his emotions out to be more productive.

“I hate feelings,” James began, his voice coarse. “I just want to shut everything out. I don’t want to feel. Having feelings hurt. Being aware hurts. I know having feelings is what keeps me human but I don’t want to live in an eternity of pain. I don’t want to hate myself anymore. I don’t know how to stop it. I don’t want to feel this way. I don’t- I don’t want- I don’t want to-”

**Then don’t.**

The void emptied all of James’ the emotional pain and the weight on his shoulders disappeared. A sudden rush of power made him gasp. Without emotions holding him back, he wasn’t weak. He wasn’t helpless. He could conquer the world.

His wristband beeped loudly. The last green bar had disappeared.

“I don’t want to feel,” James continued. His subconscious registered the way his voice emerged flat, _dead_. Aaron pulled his arm back as James turned to him with a cold, sharp gaze, red eyes burning into Aaron’s protective shades.

He had superior senses. He could smell Aaron’s blood, rich and tempting. He could see the throbbing of Aaron’s jugular vein, an invitation to pounce.

He had superior strength. He could wrestle Aaron to the ground and strangle him with a simple clench of his fist. He could break Aaron’s neck with just a quick twist to the side.

**And you don’t even have to feel guilty about it. He’s just prey. You’re above him.**

James didn’t know how long he had been absorbed in his own thoughts but he was pulled back to what was in front of him when an injection into his bicep blossomed momental emotional clarity in the void before it disappeared just as quickly as the first two yellow bars of his wristband.

He found that he had exploded a blood bag in his trembling, clenched fist. He was breathing heavily and Aaron had one hand on James’ shoulder, shaking his unresponsive figure hard. “James?” Aaron snapped his fingers in his face, but James was too deep in the void to so much as blink at Aaron’s attempt to draw him back to reality.

**It’s so much easier to kill if you didn’t feel. It’s so much easier to live awakened and unburdened by humanity’s emotional restraints. Don’t you agree? Doesn’t it feel so much better?**

He was falling into the void. There was darkness around him. Drifting in nothingness. Emptiness. Emotionless.

“It does,” James muttered to himself in response to the pull of the void.

“James! Snap out of it!” Aaron gave him a hard, practical, awakening slap. Instead, James’ heart shriveled with his cold, emotionless response; baring his fangs at Aaron as he reached out and grabbed hold of Aaron’s throat with one strong grip and lifted him off the ground as he stood up.

Stupid hunters, with their fancy gadgets and their enchantment prevention shades. Stupid hunters with their emotions and trust and brotherhood. Stupid hunters that prevented him from reigning as the true dominant species of the earth.

“James,” Aaron wheezed, clawing at James’ fingers around his neck. He gasped for air, the shades sliding down the bridge of his nose, the fear of death in his eyes.

Humans and their emotional crutch. Their need for care, for affection, for support, for love. It was weak. Emotions were weak. Humans were weak.

Not like him. He was better than them.

**He has always belittled you. Even when you were the leader of the elites, he never respected you. Now, he will pay. Show him who’s better. Prove to him that you cannot be stopped.**

Aaron was the only one actively standing in his way, preventing him from reaching his fullest potential. Preventing him from tapping into his full power. Preventing him from being the beast he could be.

Beast.

_Monster._

James was torn out of his daze with Aaron’s trembling poke of his revolver against James’ chest, a last attempt to survive. Aaron’s eyes spoke, “I don’t want to do this. Don’t make me do this,” as the shadow of death darkened his gaze. James’ wristband was blaring the siren that warned he only had one red bar left- the serum had been inhabited from working in his bloodstream and James was close to losing himself, giving in to the monster within.

James released Aaron and Aaron dropped his revolver, sinking to his knees and hands, coughing and gasping for air.

James had listened to the monster.

He had almost become the monster.

He didn’t want to be the monster.

He had to find his emotions again.

**Look at him, on his knees, at your mercy. Finish him. Take his life. Drain his blood. You will feast on the hunter.**

James shook his head hard, stumbling away from Aaron, tripping over his own legs and falling to the ground. He drew his knees to his chest and covered both hands over his ears, wanting the voice to stop, wanting the void to go away.

Aaron crawled towards him, still choking on the phantom grasp of James’ fingers around his neck.

James turned to leave, to get away from Aaron before he could hurt him again, but Aaron wrapped James in his weak arms and James didn’t have the heart to pry himself out of Aaron’s embrace.

**Now’s your chance! Attack! Kill! Destroy!**

James tensed, the void swirling around in the depths of his heart, emptying his emotions little by little. Aaron seemed to realise his struggle and tightened his arms around James. “Aaron,” James croaked out, ashamed to be asking for help when Aaron was the one in an urgent medical condition. Aaron shook his head, as though he was able to read James’ concern.

“Feel,” Aaron told him, his voice raspy.

“I feel afraid,” James whimpered, allowing the feeling of sorrow and regret to consume him, curling up on himself. “I feel scared. I feel helpless.”

Aaron nodded slowly, swallowing with great difficulty, gesturing for him to continue.

“It hurts,” James whispered, feeling the void expand in his chest as he voiced out his pain, “Feelings hurt.”

**You don’t have to feel. Let me show you. I can bring you the peace you seek. I can give you the power you desire.**

“I know,” Aaron whispered back, “I know.”

Footsteps thundered down the long hallway, echoey and loud. James’ wristband was no longer flaring a siren but it was beeping loudly as all three red bars flickered on and off.

“James!” The Vampire King yelled once he was in sight, his royal purple cape flowing behind him. He was followed by armed hunters, hot on his trail. The King carefully removed Aaron from James and the hunters held Aaron’s exhausted body up as he was entrusted into their care.

The King took Aaron’s place, sinking to his knees and pulling James into a tight hug. The red bars of his wristband stabilized as James relaxed in his familiar presence.

“Your Majesty,” James muttered. He briefly wondered why the King was here to attend to him. Surely there were other vampires out there that needed the King’s attention. Was he in trouble? Was the King here to punish him?

“James is running on instinct. He’s an animal, the line between human and monster; he is barely in control of himself.” The King ran a gentle, concerned hand across James’ head, tickling his scalp. “He needs a shot. Give him a shot,” The King commanded. One of the hunters standing around the King on guard duty stepped forward and James felt the injection in his bicep as he slumped in his King’s arms.

“Look at me, James,” the King cupped James’ cheeks with both hands and guided his gaze up into his eyes. Gentle encouragement. Kindness. Care. Worry. Love. “What’s my name?”

James took in a trembling breath, mind racing to filter his memories as the serum reactivated in his bloodstream and emotional attachment to each memory returned to his beating heart.

“...Thomas,” James exhaled.

“What's my relation to you?”

 _King,_ whispered his mind.

“You’re my boyfriend,” James rested his head against Thomas’ chest and allowed Thomas to hold him, soothe him, rubbing his hands up and down James’ back.

“More than your boyfriend, James,” Thomas said, and James could hear the smile in his voice. Thomas slid his hand into James’. “Look at the ring on your finger.”

Tears welled up in James’ eyes at the sight of their matching diamond rings. A warm fluttering feeling he could only describe as _love_ filled his soul.

“We’re engaged,” James spoke, his voice increasingly steady as the bars on the display of his wristband began reappearing. “You’re my fiancé.”

“That’s right, James. We’re going to get married,” Thomas held James at arms length in order to look at him. “I love you, James.”

“We’re getting married,” James whispered, blinking away the start of tears in his eyes. His heart was pounding with love, with relief, with happiness and content.

“And how do you feel about me?” Thomas prompted James to respond with an expression of emotions.

“I love you too,” James whispered, breaking his gaze from Thomas to look down at his wristband display to see the three green bars reappear. James took another deep breath, keeping his eyes on the wristband, reassuring himself that he was emotionally stable again.

“I’m sorry-” James began.

Thomas kissed his apologies away. “Nothing to be sorry about,” Thomas assured. He looked back at Aaron and James had to do the same, relieved when Aaron stood firm on his feet, despite a single trembling hand pressed against the wall for support, giving them a thumbs up.

“I fell into the void,” James lowered his voice in shame, looking away from Aaron and down to the ground. “I lost to the void.”

“But you never stopped fighting,” Thomas shook him gently, “That’s what I love most about you. All these years, and you never stopped fighting.”

“I gave up,” James shook his head, leaning forward as Thomas cradled his head to his chest. “I gave in.”

“You were tired. You’ve held on for so long,” Thomas assured.

“I’m a monster.”

“Nonsense,” Thomas whacked his head lightly, “You’re an angel.”

“Only to you, Thomas,” James argued, but allowed a smile to spread across his face.

“You push yourself too hard, James,” Thomas said, rocking him back and forth gently, “You demand too much from yourself. You need a break.”

“I can’t. There’s so much to do. So many things that could go wrong. I have to stand guard. I have to protect my people. I have to push for change-”

“James,” Thomas interrupted him, lowering his voice in a warning.

James looked up with a small teasing smile, his worries momentarily forgotten.

“You lowered your voice,” James teased, “You’re frowning. You’re using your King voice, the voice you use with the other vampires.”

Thomas smacked his lips together in mock-annoyance, but he smiled as well.

“As your King,” Thomas ordered, a twinkle in his eyes, “I demand that you rest. You and Aaron can watch a movie or do something brotherly. I bet you’ve never done that.”

James looked up at Aaron, who shook his head slowly, cautiously.

“But what if I lose myself again? What if I hurt somebody?” James lowered his gaze. “I won’t let that happen again. I’ll lock myself up in a dungeon. I’m dangerous-”

“James, honey,” Thomas tried again, softening, lifting his other hand and interlocking his fingers with James’. Thomas paused for a moment, considering his options. “I’ll take you on a movie date,” he smiled, “just like old times, and Aaron can come along.”

“I’m a good third wheel,” Aaron spoke up, his rough voice a lingering proof of what had just happened moments before.

“He’ll ruin the date,” James grumbled at the same time.

“Hey!” Aaron gasped, horrified, making James giggle.

He could feel the joy bubbling within him. He could feel the contentment completing his soul. He could feel love filling his heart.

The void existed as a heaviness beneath; a parasite, a leech, eating away at his emotions little by little.

Life was a struggle, but it was a struggle worth the people around him. It was a struggle worth an eternity of human-vampire progression, for a better future ahead.

“What a grouchy younger brother,” Thomas grinned, “some things never change.”

“Some things never change,” James agreed, using their interlocked hands to pull Thomas closer and catch him in a long, passionate, relieved kiss.

James was happy.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought?
> 
> [Art by Soladox!](http://soladox.tumblr.com)
> 
> [talk to me on tumblr!](http://nackledamia.tumblr.com)


End file.
